Adrienne's Wall
by Banana Belle
Summary: Adrienne is the newest cliffhanger, she is confused about love and life. *COMPLETED*
1. Goodbye Alabama

Adrienne's Wall  
  
"Hey Case," Adrienne Price greeted her friend. She was seated on the front steps of her brick home.  
  
"Does is feel weird?" Case asked her.  
  
"Weird how?" Adrienne questioned.  
  
"It's your last day in Alabama," Case said.  
  
"Case, it isn't my last day in Alabama forever, just for awhile," Adrienne told him.  
  
"Yeah but it's really cold up there. Remember the sky trip Adrienne, you hated it," Case reminded her.  
  
"I did. I said I twisted my ankle, so I could stay in the lodge," she remembered fondly.  
  
"Do you really have to go?" Case asked.  
  
"You know the answer to that Case," Adrienne said, as she scuffed her shoe on the sidewalk.  
  
"Rachel is going to miss you. I wish you would forgive her, before you leave," Case pleaded.  
  
"Rachel knows what she did. If Rachel wants to apologize, then I'll forgive her," she said.  
  
"Rachel thought you needed help. She didn't mean to start this whole mess," Case explained.  
  
"No you're wrong Rachel is just a nark, she always has been. Remember out on the playground in forth grade. She told Mrs. Peters that you an I were kissing, because she was jealous," Adrienne told him. "I don't want to talk about Rachel anymore. She is just a bad memory."  
  
The screen door opened behind Case and Adrienne. "Adrienne, Sarah said it's time to go, so you need to say goodbye to Case," a short blond boy said.  
  
"Thank you Bryce," Adrienne told her younger brother. Bryce went back into the house.  
  
"Where's your Dad?" Case asked.  
  
"He's in London," she replied.  
  
"Oh so he isn't coming with you to the school?" he asked.  
  
"No, none of them are. I don't care, I'll only miss Bryce and Gracie. I'm glad I'm getting rid of Dad, Sarah, and Eden," Adrienne told him.  
  
"Well I guess this is goodbye," Case said, as he stood up. "Goodbye Miss Price," Case said, as he gave her a hug.  
  
"Bye Case. I'll miss you so much," she told him.  
  
"Come back soon," Case said, as he turned and walked down the sidewalk.  
  
Adrienne watched him for a moment, before her perfect moment was broken.  
  
"We need to leave now, or you're miss your flight," Sarah, Adrienne's stepmother demanded. "Do you hear me young lady?"  
  
"Yes," Adrienne said coldly.  
  
"Don't you even use that tone with me Adrienne," Sarah snapped. "I don't know why I have to waste my day driving you to the airport."  
  
"Come on Bryce honey," Sarah said to her son. She had two year-old Gracie in her arms. "Your bags are in the living room." Eden, Adrienne's stepsister was at summer camp.  
  
Adrienne went back inside to her suitcase and duffel bag. She picked them up and looked around her house. "Peace out," she said.  
  
"Honk, honk," Sarah was hitting the horn. Adrienne quickly grabbed her things and ran out the door.  
  
The ride to the airport went by slowly. Adrienne had to sit in the front seat with Sarah, so she wouldn't tell Bryce and Gracie evil devil thoughts. They arrived at the airport and Adrienne took her things out of the trunk and said goodbye to Bryce and Gracie. By the time she had gotten through security, her plane was boarding.  
  
She had a window seat, not that it mattered. She was only planning to do one thing on this flight, sleeping. She pulled out of her purse, a bottle of sleeping pills and took two. She fastened her seat belt and drifted to sleep.  
  
"We are now descending to our final destination, thank you for flying with us," the flight attendant said over the speaker.  
  
Adrienne rubbed her face, she felt like she had been hit by a bus. After the plane landed, she went to collect her bags. She found both of them easily and looked around. Someone from the school was supposed to be picking her up. There was no one that seemed to be looking around for anyone, so she sat down on a bench and waited. She glanced at her watch 4:35 PM. Her stomach growled she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. She laid her down on her suitcase and fell asleep.  
  
A few hours later Adrienne woke up, the airport was empty. She checked her watch, it was 10:43 now. She walked over to the ticket counter and asked the clerk, "Has anyone been trying to find Adrienne Price?"  
  
"Not that I know of. I'll make a few calls," the clerk said with a smile. The clerk made several calls but had no luck.  
  
"May I use your phone?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"We normally don't allow passengers to use the phone, but you're all alone, so you may," the clerk said.  
  
"Thank you," Adrienne replied. She went around behind the desk and opened her purse. She pulled out makeup and some CDs. "That paper with the number on it. Where is it?" Adrienne asked herself.  
  
She located it and dialed the numbers. The telephone rang 13 times before someone picked up.  
  
"This Peter, how may I help you?" a man asked.  
  
"Is this the Mt. Horizon School or something like that?" Adrienne asked him.  
  
"Yes, how may I help you?" he asked again.  
  
"Someone from there was supposed to pick me up from the airport," she said.  
  
"Who is this?" Peter asked.  
  
"Adrienne Price, I'm coming there for the second semester," she told him.  
  
"You're at the airport now? He sounded confused.  
  
"Yes, I've been here for six hours," Adrienne informed him.  
  
"There most have been some confusion. I thought you were coming in next Sunday, when the other students get back form their break. I'm very sorry Adrienne," Peter said.  
  
"Is someone going to come get me, or should I just take a cab?" she asked.  
  
"I'll get you, its going to take me three hours to get there though," Peter told her. "Just wait near your gate."  
  
"I will, bye," Adrienne said, as she hung up the telephone. 


	2. Hello

Peter gently shook Adrienne's shoulder. She opened her eyes, and she saw him standing above her.  
  
"Hi, I'm Peter Scarbrow, its nice to meet you Adrienne," Peter said, extending his hand for a hand shake. Adrienne accepted the hand and smiled. "Let's get going, are these your all your bags?" he asked.  
  
She nodded her head, and the pair headed outside to the parking garage. They reached a truck, and Peter placed her bags in the truck's bed. He claimed into the driver's seat, just as Adrienne closed the passenger's side door.  
  
"It's going to be a long ride," he told her, "Let me know if you need to stop."  
  
Adrienne just nodded again. She rested her head against the window and closed her eyes.  
  
Peter didn't bother her, not only did he not have the energy, but it was 3 o'clock in the morning. "Adrienne must be having a bad day anyway, with no one being there to pick her up," he thought to himself.  
  
Peter was still driving, when the sun began to rise. He looked at the gages the gaslight was on, and the arrow was pointing to Empty. Just then, the truck slowed to a stop, and Peter pulled it off the road.  
  
Adrienne pulled her head up and asked, "Are we here?"  
  
"No, I ran out of gas," Peter told her. He was kicking himself on the inside, for just blurting that out to her.  
  
"There is a gas station about a half a mile ahead," she said.  
  
"How do you know that?" he asked.  
  
"I saw a billboard," Adrienne answered. "At least one of us was paying attention," she muttered under her breath.  
  
"What?" Peter asked.  
  
"Nothing, are we going to get some gas?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Yes, come on, I think I have a red container in the back," Peter said.  
  
Adrienne opened the door, and watched Peter pull out the gas can.  
  
The gas station was closer than Adrienne estimated. It only took them ten minutes to walk there. While Peter was filling the gas can, Adrienne went inside the gas station. She realized how thirsty she was. She pulled a bottle of water of the shelf and paid for it. She began to walk out the door, as Peter walked in to pay for the gas.  
  
"What did you buy?" he asked.  
  
"Water," Adrienne responded.  
  
"Do you want anything to eat?" Peter asked.  
  
"No thank you, water was all I wanted," she replied.  
  
Peter paid for the gas and purchased three granola bars. Two were for him and one extra in case Adrienne decided she was hungry. When he was outside again, Adrienne was already walking back to the truck. Peter was eating one of his granola bars, when he heard the sound of moving gravel. He looked up to see Adrienne lying on the ground.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked her.  
  
"I think I'm fine," she responded.  
  
"Your hands are scraped up a little bit. We can clean the cuts, when we get to Horizon," Peter told her.  
  
She stood up and began to walk the rest of the way. While Peter filled the tank, she waited in the truck.  
  
He climbed back in and started the truck up. He said, "We're only about 20 minutes away for Horizon now."  
  
Adrienne didn't say anything. Nor did she say anything, when the reached Horizon and Peter took her directly to the nurse's office.  
  
He waited while the nurse cleaned the cuts on her hands.  
  
"How did you do this?" the nurse asked pleasantly.  
  
"I tripped on the gravel," Adrienne replied.  
  
The nurse bandaged up Adrienne left hand, when Adrienne began to rub her forehead with her right hand.  
  
"Is something wrong?" the nurse asked.  
  
"I feel dizzy," Adrienne said, before she fell over in her chair. She came to, right away.  
  
Peter was now standing in front of her. "When was the last time you ate?" he asked. "On the plane," she lied.  
  
"That was yesterday afternoon, no wonder you feel dizzy. I'll go to the kitchen and find you something to eat," he said. "The nurse can weigh you, and ask you some health questions while I'm gone." With that, Peter left.  
  
"The students get psychical when they get their grades, but since you came here at the semester break. The doctors aren't here to give them," the nurse explained. "Step up on the scale please." The nurse wrote down the number, and then questioned Adrienne about her health.  
  
Peter returned with a sandwich and an apple, just as the nurse was finishing up.  
  
"Here eat these," he said, as he handed Adrienne the food. She picked at the sandwich, but she noticed Peter was still watching her, so she took a large bite of the apple. She took two more bites before he finally turned away, to go talk to the nurse. The nurse and Peter were whispering back and forth.  
  
Adrienne took a bite of the sandwich it was turkey, which she actually liked so she ate nearly all of it. The apple however remained with only three bites out of it.  
  
"Adrienne you and I are going to go have a meeting with your counselor Sophie," Peter told her. "Take the apple and rest of the sandwich with you; you're going to finish them."  
  
Adrienne followed Peter outside, as they walked she looked around. It was beautiful here, although it reminded her of a summer camp. She made a note to tell Bryce that in a letter, Bryce loved to camp. She than looked down at the apple and part of the sandwich in her hand. She "accidentally" dropped them on the ground. Adrienne stopped walking and looked at the poor apple lying in the dirt.  
  
Peter now noticed Adrienne wasn't beside him. He turned to see where she was.  
  
"I dropped my food," she said.  
  
"I can see that, don't worry we'll be able to get more later," he told her. Peter was trying to figure out if Adrienne had an eating disorder. The nurse had said that she was a little under weight, but it was not enough to be alarmed over.  
  
"In here," Peter said, pointing toward a building. Adrienne followed him into an office. There was a blond woman sitting at the desk.  
  
"Hello Adrienne. I'm Sophie your counselor," the woman said.  
  
"Hi," Adrienne replied.  
  
"I already went through your bags while you were with the nurse," Sophie said. "I had to take a few things that violate our rules."  
  
"What did you take?" Adrienne asked in a sharp tone.  
  
"Your razors, nail polish, nail polish remover, and the box of matches that were in the front cover of your Bible," Sophie said.  
  
"Oh I don't care about that stuff, my stepmom packed all that," Adrienne said more calmly than before.  
  
"What were the matches for?" Peter asked.  
  
"To burn things that are evil," Adrienne answered.  
  
"Are you serious?" Peter questioned.  
  
"Yes, my stepmom is a freak. She tried to burn all my CDs one time, but she figured out that it was easier just to break them," Adrienne said.  
  
"All right than," Sophie said, giving Peter a concerned look. "We're going to go over the rules, than I'll show you where you'll be staying," she continued. 


	3. Shower

@~~)~~~Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I don't really know what to think, because I'm used to most people not like my type of stories and style. Okay, I'll admit a few of them actually suck, but that isn't the point. I don't know what I'm talking about, so I'll quit rambling and let you read. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Your bed is here," Sophie told Adrienne, "None of your fellow Cliffhangers are back yet. Although I do believe a few of them will be back tomorrow," Sophie told her.  
  
"Okay," Adrienne said.  
  
"I have to leave now, if you need anything just go to the office," Sophie said, as she left Adrienne alone.  
  
Adrienne began to unpack her things. Most of them weren't really her things, her stepmother had gone and purchased more "appropriate" clothes for her. She then remembered that Sophie had forgotten to check her purse.  
  
"At least I can still have my jumbo bottle of sleeping pills," she said. She pulled the bottle out of her purse and placed it inside her fake book. It had been a gift from Case and Rachel for her thirteenth birthday. She searched through the clothes she had just unpacked.  
  
"There has to be something in here less ten year-old girlish," Adrienne said to herself. She settled for a pink sweatshirt and jeans. "At least it doesn't have Hello Kitty on it."  
  
She grew bored and decided to have a look around. She walked around the main part of the campus and headed towards the woods. She had forgotten to take a coat, and it was a lot colder here.  
  
"Hey are you new?" a guy with dark hair asked.  
  
"Yeah, I just got here today," Adrienne told him.  
  
"I'm Auggie, and you are?" he asked.  
  
"Adrienne," she replied.  
  
"That's a pretty name," Auggie told her.  
  
"Thanks, but I didn't pick it out," Adrienne said hugging herself.  
  
"I didn't pick my name either," he admitted.  
  
"Wow, we have a lot in common," she said sarcastically.  
  
"Actually we do. I was out here doing some thinking, before I let Peter know I was back. You probably shouldn't be walking around by yourself, so we both better get back," Auggie told her.  
  
They walked together until they needed to part ways.  
  
"See you around Adrienne," he said.  
  
"Yeah, see you around," she replied. Adrienne then walked back to her dorm. She pulled out her journal.  
  
"I just met this guy. He was soooo hot. I want to write home and tell someone, but Case wouldn't care. This is something that I would have told Rachel, but no not now. I could tell Eden, she would like it if she thought I trusted her. She always has been good at keeping secrets about guys." She stopped writing in her journal and started writing a letter to Eden.  
  
The next few days passed with little events, and soon school was in full swing. Tonight was going to be Adrienne's first group, and she was a little nervous.  
  
"Are these group things bad?" Adrienne asked Juliette, whose bed was next to hers.  
  
"No, they'll be a little easy on you since it's your first one and all. Just participate and you'll be fine," Juliette said with a smile.  
  
"Are you sure?" Adrienne whispered.  
  
"Yeah, don't worry about it. We better go," Juliette told her.  
  
"I'll be there is a minute, you go ahead," Adrienne said.  
  
"All right, but you'd better be on time," Juliette warned, as she left.  
  
Adrienne sat on her bed alone and started to cry. Juliette reminded her of her old best friend Rachel. She then remembered that she was due for group in two minutes. She quickly went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. She grabbed a handful of paper towels and dried her face on the run to group. As she entered the building, she hoped she wasn't late.  
  
Peter looked down at his watch and looked over at Sophie. Sophie started to get up to go find Adrienne, when Adrienne rushed into the room.  
  
Everyone was watching her. "Am I late?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"No, but you were close," Peter told her.  
  
"Sorry," Adrienne mumbled and she took a seat on the floor.  
  
"Let's make this simple today," Peter said. "I'll give each one of you a word, you tell me what it makes you think of. Daisy why don't I start with you, egg shells."  
  
"Cracking," Daisy responded.  
  
"Okay good, Scott fun," Peter said.  
  
"Football."  
  
"Juliette, forest," he said.  
  
"A river," Juliette responded.  
  
"Adrienne, food," Peter said.  
  
She didn't say anything; she just glared. Then she said," Eating."  
  
Peter went on to the rest of the cliffhangers. Adrienne continued to give him a death glare throughout the meeting. After Peter had dismissed, everyone Adrienne still sat there.  
  
"Is there something that I can help you with?" he asked.  
  
"You're a jerk," Adrienne said. She got up and left the room.  
  
"You shouldn't have said that," Sophie told him.  
  
"Said what?" Peter asked. He was truly confused on what had just happened.  
  
"You asked her what she thought about food, after you had been on her about it the other day," Sophie said.  
  
"You're right, I wasn't thinking," Peter admitted. "I'd better go find her, and apologize."  
  
"Let me know how it goes," Sophie told him, as she patted him on the back.  
  
Peter walked across the campus, heading towards the girls dorm. He knocked on the door. Daisy answered it and let him in.  
  
"Where is Adrienne?" he asked looking around.  
  
"She's in the shower," Shelby informed him.  
  
"When she's done, tell her to come see me," Peter said.  
  
"Will do captain," Shelby said and saluted.  
  
Adrienne leaned against the shower's wall. She had heard the whole thing, there was no way she was coming out. She stood for about another hour until her legs grew tired. She then sat on the floor and let the water pour over her body.  
  
"Adrienne, it's time for dinner," Juliette told her.  
  
"I'm not done yet," Adrienne said.  
  
"You've been in there for two hours," Juliette said. "Someone is going to notice you aren't at dinner."  
  
"I don't care," Adrienne shouted.  
  
"Okay," Juliette said meekly.  
  
All the cliffhangers were sitting at a table minus Adrienne, when Peter walked over.  
  
"Where is Adrienne?" he asked.  
  
"She's taking a shower," Daisy said.  
  
"Again?" Peter questioned.  
  
"No, she is still taking a shower," Shelby added.  
  
"Did someone tell her it was dinner?" Peter asked.  
  
"Jules did," Daisy said, "You want me to go drag her here?"  
  
"No, I won't being needing your services," Peter told her.  
  
"Well the offer is still out," Daisy informed him.  
  
Peter looked around for Sophie. He didn't see her anywhere. He walked back into the kitchen where she was scolding some ridgerunners for splashing dishwater all over the floor.  
  
"Sophie, I need to speak with you," Peter said. She walked over to him. "Adrienne isn't here and the girls say she's still in the shower. Can you, could you go get her and bring her to my office?" Peter asked.  
  
"I will, if you deal with these guys," she said.  
  
"Deal," Peter said. As she left, she heard one of the boys say, "Hey I thought we were getting the hot one." He was silenced by Peter; Sophie laughed as she walked away. 


	4. Talking

~~~~ As always, thanks for the reviews. ~~~~  
  
Adrienne rocked herself on the floor of the shower. She didn't care that it was consider a gross thing to do. She was crying, because she couldn't get Rachel's face out of her head. She should hate Rachel. It was Rachel's fault she was here.  
  
Adrienne thoughts were interrupted by Sophie. "Adrienne are you all right?" she asked.  
  
"I'm fine," Adrienne said, she tired to hide the fact that she was crying.  
  
"You don't sound fine. We need to talk, and then Peter wants to see you," Sophie told her.  
  
"I'm not done with my shower," Adrienne responded.  
  
"You have five minutes," Sophie told her.  
  
Adrienne heard Sophie walk out of the bathroom She wiped her face and rinsed it the flowing water. She then turned the water off and grabbed her towel. She pulled on her pajama pants, they were her favorite ones, blue Paul Frank monkey pants.  
  
Two minutes later, Adrienne appeared in front of Sophie.  
  
"Adrienne you already know Peter is concerned about your eating, so why did you skip dinner?" Sophie asked.  
  
"This has nothing to do with dinner," Adrienne said coldly.  
  
"What is this about than?" Sophie asked.  
  
"I miss," Adrienne paused, "everyone." Tears began to pour down Adrienne's cheeks. Sophie caressed her hair and let her cry.  
  
After a few minutes, Sophie said, "We need to go talk with Peter now."  
  
Adrienne followed her outside and to the office.  
  
"I'm going to talk with him alone first, you can wait right here," Sophie said pointing to a chair.  
  
"Can I have some water?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Yes, I'll go find you some," Sophie told her. She returned minutes later with a bottle of water, and she handed it to Adrienne.  
  
Sophie went inside the office, leaving Adrienne alone.  
  
"Where is Adrienne?" were the first words out of Peter's mouth.  
  
"She is waiting outside the door," Sophie told him.  
  
"Why?" Peter asked.  
  
"Because I need to talk with you," Sophie said. "When I went to get her, she was crying. I think she is homesick."  
  
"Homesick huh? How do we cure that one?" Peter asked.  
  
"I don't think there is a cure. It is just going to take a little time," Sophie answered. "That's all I wanted to tell you, I'll get Adrienne."  
  
Adrienne walked in front of Sophie. Sophie said, "I need to get ready for group."  
  
"We have another one?" Adrienne questioned.  
  
"Yes," Sophie said with a smile, before she closed the door, leaving Adrienne and Peter alone.  
  
"You can sit anywhere you want," Peter told her.  
  
"I'd rather stand," she mumbled.  
  
"I'd rather you sat," Peter told her.  
  
She picked the chair farthest away from Peter.  
  
"First I want to apologize to you for putting you on the spot like I did at group today. I shouldn't have done it," he said.  
  
She sat there, with no expression on her face.  
  
"But I need to ask you if you have a problem," Peter told her.  
  
"I don't," Adrienne said.  
  
"Then why weren't you at dinner? Meals aren't optional," he demanded.  
  
"I didn't want to go," she said. There was no trace of defiance in her voice, she was just being honest.  
  
"From what I read in your record, you do an awful lot of what you want," Peter commented.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"It means you ran way several times, you disappeared for a month, you barley attended class, need I go on?" Peter questioned.  
  
"No, I understand what you see," She said.  
  
"What do I see, that you don't?" He asked.  
  
"No, it's what I see that you don't," Adrienne told him.  
  
"And what is that?" Peter questioned.  
  
"Well I didn't run away, I just didn't want to stay in a house with my stepmom," she replied, "I was at my friend's house. They could have come and gotten me whenever they wanted to, but they didn't."  
  
"You were at your friend's house for a month?" Peter asked.  
  
"No," she said.  
  
"Then where were you?" he asked.  
  
"That is none of your business," Adrienne answered.  
  
"I don't think I'm going to get anywhere tonight, and you need to go to group," Peter told her. "Let's go, I'm walking you there."  
  
"Fine," Adrienne said, she was back to having no expression.  
  
They walked in silence. When they arrived, Sophie greeted them, "I'm glad you came. We're finished, but Adrienne why don't you tell everyone a little about yourself."  
  
"Okay, my name is Adrienne Price, I'm from Alabama," Adrienne stopped, because some of the cliffhangers were giving her questionable looks.  
  
"What?" she asked them.  
  
"It's just you don't talk like a." Scott started to say.  
  
"Hick," Shelby added.  
  
"Thank you," Adrienne said dryly.  
  
"You can continue," Sophie told her.  
  
"I'm here because my dad and stepmom made me come. The only thing I hate more than school is this place," she said sweetly. "Okay, Adrienne that's enough for today," Sophie said. "You guys are dismissed, lights out in 20 minutes."  
  
  
  
***The whole shower thing reminds of what I did at band camp. I skipped the mandatory dinner almost every single night and took a 45-minute shower. One time the rest of my fellow dinner skippers were caught by a chaperone, but the chaperone had no clue that I was in the shower hehe (my friends didn't rat me out), sneaky me. *** 


	5. Camping

**Natalie is a character from my first Higher Ground story. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Sophie sat in the kitchen of her and Peter's house. She was waiting for Peter to get out of the shower, so they could leave. The telephone rang and Sophie picked it up.  
  
"This is Mrs. Young from the adoption agency," the person on the other side said.  
  
"Hello, Mrs. Young," Sophie said pleasantly.  
  
"I have some good news, you and your husband have been approved to adopt," Mrs. Young told her.  
  
"Thank you. When is the earliest we can come a get our child?" Sophie asked.  
  
"Today," Mrs. Young said.  
  
"Is next Saturday around noon all right?" Sophie asked.  
  
"That's fine," Mrs. Young answered.  
  
"We'll be there," Sophie said, and she hung up the phone. "Peter!" she screamed.  
  
Peter came running down the stairs in a towel. "What?" he asked.  
  
"I just got off the phone with Mrs. Young. We were approved," Sophie told him.  
  
"That's wonderful, but I thought you wanted to stay home for the first few months?" Peter questioned.  
  
"I do, this is my notice," she told him.  
  
"You'll be hard to replace," Peter said.  
  
"I know," Sophie replied. "You'd better get dressed, or we're going to be late."  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
"Camping in January; he is out of his mind!" Shelby exclaimed. The cliffhanger girls were in their dorm packing.  
  
"I'm not going," Adrienne said.  
  
"Peter will make you go, unless you're dead," Daisy told her.  
  
"There is no way I'm going. I don't hike, I don't camp, I stay inside," Adrienne said.  
  
"They only reason he's doing this, is because Sophie is quitting," Juliette stated.  
  
"Don't care who's quitting I'm not hiking anywhere," Adrienne responded.  
  
"I'd pack anyway," Juliette warned.  
  
Adrienne climbed into her bed and pulled the covers over her head. "I'm sick," she stated.  
  
The others continued to pack, and then they headed outside. The guys, Peter, and Sophie were already there.  
  
"Where is Adrienne?" Peter said in a slightly irritated tone.  
  
"She said she was sick," Shelby answered.  
  
Peter immediately began walking towards the girls' dorm. Once he reached it, he opened the door without knocking.  
  
"You have two minutes to be outside, or you'll be on shuns for two weeks," Peter told her. "I'll be waiting by your door."  
  
"I'm sick," Adrienne started to say.  
  
"Two minutes," Peter said, and with that, he left the room.  
  
Adrienne grabbed her backpack that was already packed. She opened her hollow book and poured six pills into her hand. "This should be enough," she said to herself. She put the bottle back into the book and headed outside.  
  
"That was quick," Peter told her.  
  
"Whatever," Adrienne grumbled. Peter had really been irritating her the past few days.  
  
A few moments later, the hike commenced.  
  
Adrienne shivered, as they walked along. The icy wind seemed to be blowing right through her jacket. She tucked her gloved covered hands into her pockets.  
  
Sophie smiled at Peter, and he returned the gesture. The cliffhangers noticed this, and they stared to giggle.  
  
"What?" Peter asked them.  
  
"Nothing, it's just maybe you two should get a room," Shelby responded.  
  
Peter didn't reply to that comment. He did say, "In a few minutes, I'm going to split you guys up into three groups. Each group will be given a different map, to a different campsite." "Where will you be staying?" Juliette asked.  
  
"There is a cabin, within a half mile of each of the camp sites. Sophie and I will be there, if anyone needs us, but we will be checking up on each group," Peter stated.  
  
"The groups, are Auggie, Scott, and Adrienne; Daisy, Shelby, and Ezra; and Juliette, David, and Natalie," Peter told them.  
  
Sophie handed each group a map. The maps had the group campsite marked, and written directions to the cabin.  
  
The groups went in the direction of their campsites. Juliette, David, and Natalie had no problem finding their site. It didn't take Daisy, Shelby, and Ezra much longer either but the other group as a different story.  
  
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Adrienne asked. "The map didn't say anything about having to cross a stream."  
  
"This isn't a stream, it's a river," Auggie corrected.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"I don't know," Scott answered.  
  
"Hey, there is a log over there, we could walk across it," Auggie told them.  
  
"I guess, but aren't we lost?" Adrienne questioned.  
  
"No, we aren't lost," Scott said, "we just were given an incorrect map. Let's just cross the river and look around. If we can't find the campsite, we'll go look for the cabin."  
  
"Sounds good," Auggie replied.  
  
"Adrienne?" Scott asked.  
  
"It doesn't matter to me," Adrienne answered.  
  
"All right then, let's go," Scott said.  
  
Scott went across the log first, then Auggie. Adrienne climbed up onto the log and started to cross. When she was about halfway she lost her balance and slipped into the cold water.  
  
Auggie and Scott rushed towards the edge of the river.  
  
"Do you see her?" Auggie asked.  
  
"No," Scott replied.  
  
The two looked frantically for Adrienne. 


	6. Found

"Scott, over there by those rocks," Auggie called.  
  
Auggie and Scott ran down the riverbank towards a pile of rocks on the shore. Next to the pile of rocks, was Adrienne's limp body. Scott rolled her over and Auggie tried to find a pulse.  
  
"What are you doing?" Adrienne asked them.  
  
"You fell into the water. We thought you might be dead," Auggie told her.  
  
"I'm not dead," Adrienne informed them, "so you can get your grubby paws off of me."  
  
"You're going to get hypothermia if you don't get dry," Scott said.  
  
"All of my clothes are wet," Adrienne reminded him. "Where is my bag anyway?"  
  
"I don't see, it probably floated down stream," Auggie replied.  
  
"Great," Adrienne responded.  
  
"You're going to have to change. You can wear some of my clothes," Auggie told her.  
  
"Are you're pants going to fit me?" she questioned.  
  
"I think I have a belt," Scott told her.  
  
"Wonderful, I'm freezing, give me the clothes so I can change," Adrienne demanded.  
  
Auggie pulled some clothes out of his bag, and Adrienne headed into the trees to change. She returned a few minutes later, carrying her own clothes in hand.  
  
"We have to figure out where we are," Scott said, "We need to find Peter and Sophie. Who has the map?"  
  
"I don't have the map," Auggie answered, "Adrienne?"  
  
"No map here," she replied.  
  
"We lost the map," Scott said, "that's all right, we just have to remember the way we got here."  
  
"Well lead on fearless leader," Adrienne said.  
  
Auggie starting laughing, and Adrienne followed him with giggles.  
  
"Will you two shut up? This isn't funny," Scott said. "I think it's funny," Auggie replied.  
  
"Me too," Adrienne agreed.  
  
"Well, it's not. I'm remember the way we came, so I'll lead," Scott told them.  
  
"Whatever," Adrienne said.  
  
Scott walked in front, while Adrienne and Auggie traded jokes behind him. It was starting to get when they saw a light glimmering through the trees.  
  
"Who's there?" Scott called out.  
  
"Scott? Where have you guys been?" Peter asked as he emerged from the brush.  
  
"It's a really long story," Auggie said.  
  
"I have plenty of time. Adrienne why are you wearing Auggie's clothes, and where is your backpack?" Peter demanded.  
  
"I lost my backpack, and then I got wet so Auggie loaned me some clothes," Adrienne answered.  
  
"How did you lose your backpack?" Peter asked.  
  
"It fell off," Adrienne replied.  
  
"Yeah it fell off you when you were falling into the river," Scott said.  
  
"What river?" Peter asked. He was confused.  
  
"I don't know, but Adrienne slipped off a log and fell in. I think you should get her checked out or something, because she fell pretty far," Scott told him.  
  
"You guys can all come back to the cabin with me, then I'll decide what to do," Peter said.  
  
Adrienne was standing away form the rest of the group now. She was trying to pull a pill out of her pocket, but they were to wet; they turned to mush in her hand. She started to cry, now she had to be miserable without anything to help her.  
  
"Adrienne are you all right?" Peter asked. He was standing in front of her looking down at her.  
  
"I'm fine, I'm just cold," Adrienne replied."  
  
"Let's hurry up and get to the cabin," Peter told them.  
  
After a few minutes, Adrienne was falling behind.  
  
"Yo Peter could slow it down a little, Slippery is having trouble keeping up," Auggie said.  
  
"Of coarse," Peter answered.  
  
"Slippery?" Adrienne questioned.  
  
"Yeah, that's your new name," Auggie told her.  
  
"What if I don't like it?" she asked.  
  
"Well that's too bad because that's your name," Auggie explained.  
  
Before Adrienne knew it, they had reached the cabin. As soon as they were inside Peter wanted to know everything. Adrienne took her shoes off; she could hardly feel her feet.  
  
"Sophie I need you look Adrienne over for frost bite," Peter said first.  
  
"No problem come over here," Sophie told Adrienne.  
  
While Sophie and Adrienne were in a corner, the interrogation began.  
  
"Did either of you get into the water at all?" Peter asked.  
  
"No, not all the way. We stood in it near the bank when we found her," Scott answered.  
  
Peter continued with the questions for several minutes until Sophie said, "There isn't any frost bite, just a few scratches. I gave her a sleeping bag and told her to sit close to the fireplace. Could you two heat up some water?" She asked Auggie and Scott.  
  
"No problem," Auggie replied.  
  
"I'm going to radio for a medical helicopter," Peter told Sophie quietly.  
  
"But there isn't anything wrong," Sophie said.  
  
"Externally, for we know she could have internal bleeding," he responded.  
  
"You can't leave the rest of the kids up here," Sophie whispered.  
  
"I know that, but I don't really have a choice. When I radio for someone to send the helicopter, I'll have someone else come up here," Peter said, "Do you think you can handle things for a day?"  
  
"Yes," Sophie answered. 


	7. Arm Ache

**Thanks to all who reviewed, you're the ones who inspire me to keep Adrienne alive, not that I was planning to kill her off. Muhaha, muhaha, muhaha!  
  
  
  
"What are you thinking about?" Peter asked Adrienne.  
  
The two were sitting in the back of a helicopter.  
  
"I'm thinking about enjoying the ride," Adrienne said dryly.  
  
"Are you enjoying it?" he asked.  
  
"I've never ridden in a helicopter before," she admitted. "How long are we going to have to stay at the hospital?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"I shouldn't think very long," He told her.  
  
"Good I don't like hospitals," she said.  
  
Peter thought about what Adrienne said. He wondered if it meant anything. The helicopter landed on the roof of the hospital. There were a significant number of people waiting for them to arrive. The nurses emeadtly had Adrienne get onto a gurney and jut her head in a collar.  
  
Adrienne laid back in awe; everything around her seemed to be moving too quickly. After a few moments, she blacked out. She awoke to kind herself in a private room. She felt something hard touching her hand; she looked down to see a plaster cast on her right arm.  
  
"Are you awake?" Peter asked her.  
  
"Yeah," Adrienne answered quietly.  
  
"You broke a bone in your arm," Peter said, "but besides being dehydrated, that's all that is wrong."  
  
"Did you call my dad?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, do you want to talk to him?" Peter questioned.  
  
"Yeah kind of," she replied.  
  
"You can call him when we get back to Horizon," he told her.  
  
"When are we going back?" Adrienne asked, her face lit up with this news.  
  
"In a few minutes, whenever the doctor comes back," he said.  
  
Adrienne nodded and was silent. She hated being here, it reminded her of going to see her mom. The thoughts of her mom made tears form in her eyes. She tried to roll over, but she couldn't with the cast on. She just sat holding back her tears until Peter told her it was time to go.  
  
Adrienne was silent the whole way back. It was late morning, and her cast was starting to itch; she tried to rub it against her leg. It didn't help. The doctor had said it would be sore for a few days, he hadn't said anything about itchy. Peter parked the vehicle, and they both got out.  
  
"Come inside, so you can use the telephone," he said.  
  
Adrienne followed solemnly, she wanted to talk to her dad, but at the same time she didn't, she would rather talk to Case. She picked up the phone and dialed her home number.  
  
"Hello?" Eden answered.  
  
"Hey Edie," Adrienne said to her stepsister.  
  
"Adrienne! How are you? I got your letter; it was so cool that you wrote to me. I won't tell anyone, I swear," Eden told her.  
  
"I believe you. Is my dad there?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"No he left for the airport a few hours ago," Eden said.  
  
"Oh well," Adrienne said, she was a little disappointed but not really, "how are Bryce and Gracie?"  
  
"Their fine, Bryce misses you," Eden replied, "I have to go, unless you want my mom to know you're on the phone."  
  
"No go, I don't really want to talk to her now. Have fun at school," Adrienne told her.  
  
"See ya," Eden said, then she hung up the phone.  
  
Peter was looking at Adrienne when she set the phone down.  
  
"He wasn't home," she stated to explain. It was no use calling Case; he would already be at school. She would try to call him tonight. "What am I supposed to do today?" she asked.  
  
"It really depends on what you want to do, classes don't start for another two days," he explained.  
  
"I'm going to sleep," she told him.  
  
"If your arm starts to hurt go to the nurse's office, and she'll give you some of the painkillers the doctor gave you," Peter said.  
  
Adrienne walked back to her dorm alone. She couldn't wait to knock herself out for a few hours. The first thing she did after reaching the dorm was take the bottle of sleeping pills out of her hollow book and pop two into her mouth. She stuffed the bottle back into it's hiding spot and curled up into a ball on her bed.  
  
She awoke hours later with a headache, and her arm was throbbing. She thought about going to the nurse's office, and she looked at the clock that was blinking 12:00.  
  
"Great, now I don't even know what time it is," she said aloud.  
  
Adrienne searched under her bed, with her left arm, for the watch. She finally felt the cool, metallic circle, and she clutched the watch in her hand. It read, 11:38, and the darkness she saw through the window let her know it wasn't 11:38AM.  
  
She sat up suddenly remembering her plan to call Case. It would still be an acceptable hour to call him. She jumped off the bed and headed out the door, not stopping to put her shoes on, for she had slept with them on. The winter night's air was chilling to her bare arms, but the temperature did not stop her, nothing would stop her, except Peter who was happened to be standing outside the office, after finishing his nightly rounds.  
  
"Adrienne, what are you doing?" he asked.  
  
"I just woke up, and my arm hurts," she explained.  
  
"I'll go get the medicine, just go and wait in my office. You should really wear a coat," Peter added.  
  
Adrienne went inside and picked up the phone, holding it with her head so she could use her left hand to dial. She punched the numbers in waited for someone to pick up.  
  
"Hello," Case answered.  
  
"Case it's Adrienne," she told him.  
  
"Wow, I thought it was going to be Rachel again, but I'm really glad to hear from you. How are things?" he asked.  
  
"I broke my arm, that kind of sucks. Other than that, things are good," Adrienne told her friend.  
  
"Great, Rachel asks about you every day. Will you please at least write her a letter?" Case asked.  
  
"I'll think about it, but if I do, let in be known I'm only doing because you asked me to," she said.  
  
"I don't really care what you do," he started to say, but Peter entered the room.  
  
"I have to go, talk to you later," Adrienne said, before slamming the phone down.  
  
"Who were you talking to?" Peter asked.  
  
"My dad's assistant, I was trying to get a hold of my dad, but he's stuck at some airport somewhere," Adrienne lied.  
  
"Next time, ask if you want to use the telephone," he said, "Here you are supposed to take one of these with food or milk. Which one food or milk?" he asked.  
  
"Food," she responded.  
  
"Well, we need to go to the kitchen either way," Peter told her.  
  
They went to the kitchen, where Adrienne chose a piece of bread. She ate it quickly, and then swallowed the pill that Peter handed to her.  
  
"You're going to have to open up your mouth and show me that you swallowed it," Peter told her.  
  
"Why, is this a policy you people have?" Adrienne questioned.  
  
"Not normally, but this is heavy-duty stuff," he explained.  
  
"Oh, see I did," she said, showing him her empty mouth.  
  
"You better try and get some sleep," Peter told her.  
  
"Okay," she turned and started to walk away.  
  
"Adrienne," he said and waited for her to turn, she did. "Good night," he finished.  
  
"'Night," Adrienne mumbled.  
  
She quickly walked out of the building, and started running once she was outside. Something had upset her just now. Was it that Peter had said goo night to her? No, that's stupid lots of people say that, she told herself shaking the idea out of her head.  
  
She entered the dorm and hurried herself into her pajamas. Adrienne lay in her bed awake, crying for what seemed like forever. She drifted off just as the sun was starting to peak over the mountains. She awoke with a warm beam of light shining on her check. The arm, connected to her body, ached more than she remembered it had. But maybe it wasn't her arm that ached, maybe it was something else. 


	8. Sleep?

*Okay, so it has been pretty close to forever since I've updated any of my stories. I think I'm in another writing surge, so there might be more soon. Keep reading and reviewing (the reviews make me happy!)  
Adrienne went into the bathroom and looked at her self in the mirror, it was a sad sight. Her hair was matted to her head, her face was oily, and she didn't smell very well either. Adrienne found a plastic bag to wrap her cast in and attempted to bath herself. The whole situation made her feel helpless, something Adrienne had sworn she would never be. After a good effort, Adrienne wrapped and towel around her hair and began to dress herself. She first tried to put on jeans, but she couldn't put the button through the hole. She settled for sweatpants, nice ones not the kind with icky elastic at the ankles.  
  
She walked to the cafeteria and sat alone; the other cliffhangers wouldn't be returning until that afternoon. She didn't even notice when Peter approached and stood right in front off her.  
  
"The cereal isn't going to eat itself," Peter told her.  
  
"It better because I'm sure not going too," she mumbled.  
  
"I heard that, I hear most of what you say and what you don't say," he said.  
  
"What are you, God or something?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"No," Peter responded. He was getting a little tired of Adrienne's honesty mixed with sarcasm. "How is arm?" he asked.  
  
"It hurts, and the cast is itchy," she explained.  
  
"Do you think you're up to going to class tomorrow?" Peter asked her.  
  
"Sure," she responded.  
  
"I figured that was what you'd say, so I took the liberty of printing off your schedule," He said, handing Adrienne a slip of paper.  
  
She looked over it in silence. History, Science, English, Geometry, the last listed made her laugh aloud. Good old Geometry, this would make the third year in a row, she had taken it. Maybe she would just skip it, as she had done at her old school.  
  
Peter interrupted her thoughts, when he asked, "Did you ever speak with your father?"  
  
"No, but I've decided that it's a lost cause," Adrienne told him.  
  
Peter turned his attention else where, and Adrienne slipped out. She went back to the dorm and sat on the floor. She pulled a book out of her bag, in the center of it, was a picture (Adrienne found that photos made the best bookmarks). It was of her and Rachel. Adrienne suddenly felt the urge to rip the picture into pieces. It took her awhile to make the first tare, because her cast made holding anything awkward. After the first picture, she decided to move on to any pictures containing her stepmother. She was careful to place a few of Bryce, Gracie, her dad, and Case aside, but everything else was fair game.  
  
When she was finished, Adrienne looked around, admiring her work. She also realized that she'd have to get rid of the evidence but for the time being, she liked it this way. She also realized that the stupid pain in her arm was back. Adrienne was in no mood to go have a chat with Nurse Talks Too Much. She went to her hollow book and pulled out her pills. She took out two, better make that three to be safe. Adrienne swallowed her pills forgetting about the mess scattered about her.  
  
~~~~ An hour later (in Peter's office)~~~  
  
"How was it?" Peter asked his wife.  
  
"I'm going to miss doing this," Sophie told him.  
  
"You make it sound like you're never coming back," Peter said.  
  
"I might not," she replied.  
  
"I thought we decided that." Peter started to say.  
  
"We did, but things could change," Sophie finished.  
  
"Want time do you want to leave?" he asked.  
  
"I told Mrs. Young at the agency that we would be there around noon," Sophie stated.  
  
"Which means, that we need to leave here by eleven," Peter said.  
  
"I need to go talk with the new nurse before we leave. I'll go do that, why don't you go home, and make sure we have everything," he told her.  
  
"I don't think we'll be getting our child today," Sophie explained.  
  
"I know that, but it would be this if we are ready," Peter answers.  
  
"You just don't want me around anymore. Imagine anyone treating their own wife like this," she stated sarcastically.  
  
"I must be pretty lucky," he said, as he planted a kiss on her mouth.  
  
Sophie pulled a way with a shocked looked on her face. "Oh my, we never talked about a boy or a girl!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Does it really make that much of a deference?" he questioned.  
  
"Well no, I guess not, but we really should be prepared," Sophie said.  
  
"We can talk about it in the car. If worse comes to worse, we could always flip a coin," Peter added.  
  
"That's a real mature and logical way," Sophie commented.  
  
"I didn't think it was all that bad," Peter said.  
  
"It's pretty bad," she informed him.  
  
"We had better get going of we'll never be out of here by eleven," Peter said.  
  
"All right," Sophie said sweetly. The couple kissed one last time, before parting ways.  
  
Sophie was walking towards her car when Juliette came running towards her.  
  
"The new girl is just laying there," Juliette stated, "we couldn't even tell if she was breathing!"  
  
"Go find Peter," Sophie told Juliette.  
  
Sophie ran towards the dorms. She entered to find the other girls gathered around Adrienne on the floor. The parted themselves, and Sophie checked for a pulse. There was one, she checked for breath sounds, but there was nothing.  
  
"Someone hand me a mirror," Sophie demanded.  
  
One appeared in no time, and she placed it over Adrienne's mouth. A small clouded ring appeared on the glass. Just then, Peter arrived.  
  
"What happened?" he asked.  
  
"We don't know, we thought she was sleeping at first, but then Natalie tried to wake her up, and she wouldn't," Shelby explained.  
  
Adrienne put her hands to her face and rubbed her eyes. She opened them and saw the whole scene.  
  
"What's going on?" Adrienne asked. She was still groggy from the sleeping pills.  
  
"Nothing, besides we thought you were dead," Shelby spat out.  
  
"Adrienne, we're going to go for a little walk over to the nurse's office," Sophie told her.  
  
"Why?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"We need to get you checked out, and we need to talk," Sophie said gently.  
  
Peter grabbed Adrienne's unbroken arm and helped her off the floor. He led the small parade with Adrienne and Sophie following. Adrienne lost her balance on the stairs, and Peter steadied her. They reached the nurse's office, but they weren't greeted by Nurse Talks Too Much. Instead, there was a younger man in the office.  
  
"Adrienne, this is William Anderson, the new nurse," Peter said. "Will, this is Adrienne, she had a little trouble waking up," he stated.  
  
"Well Adrienne you can just sit up here and we'll check things out," Will told her.  
  
Adrienne sat on the examine table. All she could think about was how gorgeous this new nurse was. He checked took her blood pressure, but Adrienne was lost in her own thoughts.  
  
"Adrienne did you take any of the medicine for your arm today?" Will asked her.  
  
She thought for moment, this was perfect, blame this on the new medicine. "Yeah, I took some after breakfast," she said.  
  
"Nurse Cain must have forgotten to record that before she left," Will said, as he looked at Adrienne's medical file.  
  
"Yeah, she was pretty busy when I came in," Adrienne added.  
  
"I'll call the doctor who prescribed this and ask about a lower dosage," Will said. "I think you should stay here, until we can get things worked out."  
  
"Yahoo," Adrienne said without enthusiasm, but instead she was beaming with excitement.  
  
"Don't worry we'll have fun," Will told her.  
  
"Soph we'd better get going," Peter said, looking down at his watch.  
  
"I know," she said, "Bye Adrienne."  
  
"Bye," Adrienne replied. 


	9. Lil' Kisses

"Boy or girl, this shouldn't be this hard," Sophie commented. She was riding with Peter to the adoption agency where they were going to look over possible children for the couple.  
  
"It doesn't matter to me, whatever you want is fine," Peter responded, as he merged into a lane of traffic.  
  
"We might have to resort to coin flipping," she announced.  
  
"Boy," Peter said.  
  
"Why do say that?" Sophie asked.  
  
"He'll be able to watch over all our little girls," Peter said with a grin.  
  
"Who said anything about another one, let alone more than that?" she demanded.  
  
"I'm just saying," Peter said, "a boy is a good start. He'll be more sturdy if I drop him."  
  
"I'm going to pretend I didn't here that, but I guess a boy is fine with me too," Sophie answered.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back at Horizon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Adrienne was sitting alone in the nurse's office. Will had gone of to check on one of the Ridgerunners. She noticed a phone sitting on a small desk in the corner of the office. She picked it up and dialed Case's number.  
  
"Hello," a female voice answered.  
  
"Is Case there?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Uh, who is this?" the voice asked.  
  
"Adrienne," she replied.  
  
"Do you know who this is?" the voice asked.  
  
Adrienne thought for a moment. Who would be at Case's house? Then it hit her; she was speaking to Rachel Brown. Rachel had turned Adrienne's life upside down, and she still had the nerve to speak to Adrienne.  
  
"Adrienne, are you still there?" Rachel asked.  
  
"Yeah, Rachel, I'm still mad at you," Adrienne said.  
  
"Why? All I did was help you," Rachel responded.  
  
"Help me? You call running your mouth to my dad help?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"I could have called the police. At least this way Mr. Della stays out of trouble," Rachel explained.  
  
"Nothing ever happen between Mr. Della and me," Adrienne yelled in to the phone.  
  
"I saw you. I saw after the fall play; you kissed him. You are really screwed up Adrienne. Why don't you get that teachers shouldn't be having relationships with students?" Rachel asked.  
  
"You just don't understand love; I have loved Kurt since the first time we met," Adrienne replied.  
  
"The first time you met, was that in his history class?" Rachel questioned.  
  
"No, now shut up and let me talk to Case," Adrienne told her.  
  
"You want to know why Case is the only one who still talks to you," Rachel asked. She didn't wait for a reply and continued, "because he is the only one who doesn't know how screwed up you really are! Haley, Sarah, and Mandie hate you, that's why they stopped talking to you, not because I told them to!"  
  
"Rachel, you're the worst friend in the world Haley, Sarah, and Mandie deserve you!" Adrienne screamed, and she hung up the phone. She was done with Rachel Brown for good, to bad she hadn't gotten a chance to speak with Case.  
  
Adrienne flopped down on the floor, and she pulled her knees up to her chest. There was too much that had happen that no one had known about. Mr. Della was the best lover Adrienne had ever had, but she wasn't in it for the sex or even for the love. He was her safe guard as long as he was here no one would find out about IT.  
  
Will reentered the office and called out, "Adrienne?"  
  
She didn't say anything; she waited for him to find her. He bent down by her side and asked, "Are you all right?"  
  
"Maybe," she answered.  
  
"What is maybe supposed to mean?" Will asked.  
  
"It means this," Adrienne said as she leaned forward kissing Will on the cheek. She sat for a moment waiting for it to happen, but it didn't, nothing did.  
  
Will stood up. "I'm going to have to tell Peter this happened," he told her. "Good he'll just ask you how it was," Adrienne responded.  
  
Will didn't say anything, he was in shock. He could believe the head of the school was having an affair with a student.  
  
Adrienne waved to him and left. Will didn't stop even though she was supposed to stay with him all day. He wouldn't feel comfortable with her around. He had to think, who could he tell? He hadn't met all the counselors, but he decided he would tell a counselor, they would know what to do.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the adoption agency ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"We have several boys ready placement," Mrs. Johnson explained, "there is a three month old, a six month old, and a two day old."  
  
"Which do you think would be better for us?" Sophie asked.  
  
"They're all fine children, it would depend on several things, like how soon you wanted to get back to work," Mrs. Johnson said.  
  
"I'd like to only be away for a few months at the most," Sophie stated.  
  
"To bad you want a boy," Mrs. Johnson said quietly.  
  
"Why is that?" Peter asked.  
  
"Oh, did I say that? I didn't mean to, it just that a foster family just returned thirteen-month-old twin girls today. We are scrambling to find them an other foster home," Mrs. Johnson told them.  
  
"We didn't really have are heart set on a boy," Sophie said.  
  
"Would you like to see them?" Mrs. Johnson asked.  
  
"Do you have a picture?" Peter asked.  
  
"No, they're here," Mrs. Johnson explained.  
  
"I'd love to see them," Sophie replied.  
  
"Right this way then," Mrs. Johnson said.  
  
Peter and Sophie followed her into a room; there were several desks, another woman, and two little girls playing on the floor. One of the girls crawled over to them with a smile on her face.  
  
"This Leah," Mrs. Johnson told them," and hiding over in the over by the wall is Ivy."  
  
"Hi, Leah," Sophie said.  
  
Leah's smile got bigger and she said, "bally."  
  
"You want to play with your ball?" Peter asked.  
  
Leah just smiled and picked up her ball.  
  
"They are so cute," Sophie said. "Peter, what do you think?" she asked.  
  
"I think we might have to take back the crib and but two beds," he answered.  
  
"Why don't we go back into my office to talk about the final plans," Mrs. Johnson suggested.  
**What is the other part of Adrienne's story? Will the adoption go through smoothly? What will happen when Will tells someone what Adrienne did? Find out next chapter. Hehehe, reviews are appreciated! 


	10. Ideas

Adrienne sat on a bench alone, she was thinking about everything, mostly about Rachel. She couldn't understand why her friend would betray her like that. These thoughts were pushed out of her head by the thoughts of the punishment she was going to receive for kissing Rob and telling him that she was having a relationship with Peter. Why had she done that? She was reverting to her old lying ways.  
  
"Adrienne," a voice broke through the silent winter air.  
  
She turned around to see Will walking towards her, but it wasn't just Will there was another woman there as well.  
  
"Miss Kendall this is Adrienne Price," Will introduced the woman.  
  
"Who is she?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"I'm from social services, I need to speak with you," Miss Kendall said.  
  
Adrienne thought Miss Kendall looked like she was twelve. Miss Kendall smiling bubbly attitude made Adrienne want to throw up her lunch.  
  
"Adrienne, why don't we take a walk?" Miss Kendall said rather than asked.  
  
"Sure," Adrienne mumbled following Miss Kendall away for Will.  
  
"Will tells me you might be having an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Scarbrow," Miss Kendall told her.  
  
"So much for you trying to make small talk first. I made all that up; I lie a lot," Adrienne explained.  
  
"Are you sure?" Miss Kendall questioned.  
  
"Yeah, can I go now?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Yes, but you need to understand that I'll be watching this situation," Miss Kendall said.  
  
Adrienne didn't respond; she just walked away. She didn't like Miss Kendall. Miss Kendall acted as if she knew what was right for everyone. Rachel would make a good social worker because Rachel wanted to be in everybody business. It was at this moment that Adrienne made a vow not to speak with anyone here.  
  
"Hey," Auggie said to Adrienne.  
  
She said nothing; she just stared.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" he asked. Again, she said nothing. No one would ever find out the truth.  
  
~~~~~~ At Peter and Sophie's House ~~~~~~  
  
"I don't know how we're going to get everything set up by tomorrow," Sophie said desperately.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll figure something out," Peter told her.  
  
Sophie sat down on the couch, while Peter went to find the tools they would need to put together the furniture. When he returned Sophie was asleep. Peter wallowed in self-pity for a moment then an idea hit him. He knew nine people who would be willing to help. He drove to Horizon a little faster than usual.  
  
When he arrived it didn't take long to find the first of his recruits. Natalie, Scott, Shelby, Ezra, Auggie, and Juliette were playing soccer in the snow. Peter called them over to him.  
  
"How would you like to help me with a special project?" he asked.  
  
"What kind of project?" Juliette asked.  
  
"Sophie fell asleep, and I need help getting things ready for our kids," Peter explained.  
  
"Kids?" Shelby questioned.  
  
"Yes, kids. We're going to be getting twin girls," Peter said.  
  
"Yeah, we'll help," Scott said speaking for the whole group.  
  
"Let's go round up the others," Shelby said. The six dispersed and returned with David, Daisy, and Adrienne a few moments later.  
  
"How are we going to get there?" Auggie asked.  
  
"We can walk; it isn't too far," Peter told them.  
  
The group walked along the road that led to Peter's house. The sun had already fallen behind the horizon, and the sky was fall of stars.  
  
"It's so peaceful out here, I don't know if I could ever live in a city," Juliette announced.  
  
"Yeah, it is nice out," Scott admitted.  
  
Shelby shot him a look. "Is he flirting with Juliette?" she asked herself, "No, I just must be imagining things, Scott and Juliette are over, way over."  
  
Ezra fell behind a few steps, so he could walk with Adrienne. "How's it going?" he asked.  
  
"All right," Adrienne answered. There was something about Ezra that was different from everyone else that had made her break her vow to silence. "I have a question, and you seem to be the type of person who can answer it."  
  
"Ask away, my love," Ezra told her.  
  
"Keep that kind of talk on the DL, or Auggie will freak," Adrienne said.  
  
"Yeah, I know he has been making moves on you, but remember I can love you too," he explained.  
  
"Oh, we're in love now. I think this relationship is moving a little fast for me," she joked.  
  
"Anyway my question, what would happen if someone here got caught with contraband," she whispered.  
  
"How'd you figure I'd know about this?" he questioned.  
  
"I figured that you're the type of guy who knows how stuff is," Adrienne stated.  
  
"In that case, it would really depend on what you had; it's hard to say," he said, "You'd definitely be punished."  
  
"That sucks," she told he.  
  
"I answered your question, now I have one for you," Ezra said. "Did you really kiss that nurse guy?"  
  
Adrienne paused, she didn't want to talk with anyone; she'd get hurt if she shared so much. "Yeah," she admitted.  
  
"Why did you do it?" he asked.  
  
"He's cute," Adrienne stated.  
  
"I'm cute," Ezra told her.  
  
"You want me to kiss you too?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," he said.  
  
"Okay," Adrienne answered.  
  
"Are you serious?" he questioned.  
  
"Yupp," she replied.  
  
"Sweet, we can do it later tonight; we'll sneak away while we're working on Peter's room," Ezra told her.  
  
"Sounds good, just give me a wink," she said.  
  
Ezra picked up his pace; he didn't want to make things look too obvious.  
  
"What were you and Adrienne talking about?" Daisy asked.  
  
"Shouldn't your tarot cards be able to tell you that?" Ezra asked her.  
  
"No, but I could have eavesdropped," Daisy told him.  
  
"Nothing, we were just talking about basketball," he lied.  
  
"Basketball?" Daisy questioned.  
  
"Yeah, she's a big fan," Ezra explained.  
  
Daisy was halted from making any more inquiries about the conversation, because Peter began explaining everything that needed to be done.  
  
"I don't care how you guys divide up, but we need painters and assemblers," Peter said.  
  
"What is an assembler?" Shelby asked.  
  
"You assemble the furniture," he explained.  
  
"I'll do that," Shelby told him.  
  
"Me too," Scott said.  
  
"Ezra, Natalie, and David, why you guys help with the assembling too," Peter said.  
  
Ezra looked at Adrienne. They both knew that if they put up a fight everyone would know. Adrienne mouthed "don't worry, I have a plan."  
  
When they reached the house Peter went to show the assembly crew where the boxes of furniture were. He had told the paint crew to wait in the room awaiting the paint. Juliette and Daisy were looking around the room, and Auggie walked over to where Adrienne was sitting on the floor.  
  
"Are you mad at me?" he asked.  
  
"No, I just want to be alone. What I mean is I'm not ready to start seeing anyone," she told him. Adrienne was shocked herself as these words left her lips. She had really liked Auggie up until a few minutes ago, she couldn't believe her heart was changing so quickly.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I understand. You still want to friends?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, we can still be friends," Adrienne told him.  
  
* In the next chapter, Peter talks to Adrienne. Does Ezra ever receive his kiss? Find out this and much more in the next chapter. Reviews are always welcomed. 


	11. Painted

Adrienne dipped her paint-roller into the pan. She didn't mind the painting, actually she had never really minded any physical labor, and even with one good hand, she didn't mind. Today was different; her head was spinning with thoughts and feelings. She really like Auggie, but at the same time there was another part of her that wanted to be outside under the stars making out with Ezra.  
  
"You missed a spot," Daisy told her.  
  
"What?" Adrienne responded snapping out of her thoughts.  
  
"Right there, you missed a spot," Daisy pointed out.  
  
"Oh, thanks," Adrienne replied.  
  
Adrienne looked around the room; Juliette and Auggie were painting on the other side of the room. Peter was almost dead center keeping an eye on the work. He had been watching the painters more than he had the others.  
  
"Now, is the perfect time," Adrienne thought to herself. She set her roller down and rubbed her face.  
  
"The fumes are starting to bother me, can I go downstairs and get a drink of water or something?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah that's fine, and how does your arm feel?" he asked.  
  
"Okay," Adrienne answered.  
  
"Are you sure because the doctor thought it might be pretty painful without the medication," Peter explained.  
  
"No, really it's fine," she said.  
  
Adrienne headed downstairs; she first went into the kitchen and turned on the sink. She was sure that they couldn't hear the sink upstairs, but she wanted to be sure. After a few moments, she turned the water off. Adrienne listened to the silence and then made her move. She walked into the garage where the furniture assembly was going on.  
  
"Ezra, Peter wants you to come help him with something," she said.  
  
Ezra smiled and followed Adrienne back into the house.  
  
"That was slick," he told her.  
  
"Oh, trust me I could have done much better," she stated.  
  
"So what exactly are we going to do?" Ezra asked.  
  
"Well, first I'm going to give the kiss I promised you, then we'll see what happens next," Adrienne told him.  
  
"I think, I'm going to like the next part," he responded.  
  
"Well, I think, you'll like every last minute of it," she said.  
  
Adrienne led the way outside through the back door. She closed it quietly behind Ezra. They walked until they were away from the light of the house. Adrienne turned towards Ezra and looked into his eyes. She leaned towards him, when their lips connected passion swept over her body. She had never felt anything like this before. This wasn't like her and Kurt (Mr. Della) although she had feelings for him.  
  
Ezra was the first to pull away. "That was nice," he said. "My kiss lasted longer that the nurse's did right?"  
  
"Yeah, and yours was much better," Adrienne replied. "It's freezing out here."  
  
"I'll warm you up," Ezra offered.  
  
"Will you now?" she questioned, "how are you going to go about doing that?"  
  
"Like this," he said kissing Adrienne's neck.  
  
They both froze suddenly and turned. Juliette was standing before them.  
  
"Peter is looking for you two," Juliette informed them.  
  
"Are you going to tell?" Adrienne asked her.  
  
"No, but just so you know, I think, what you are doing to Auggie is lame. He really likes you, and you made him think you liked him too," Juliette said.  
  
"Well, you know what? I can do whatever I want," Adrienne responded.  
  
Juliette didn't reply she just walked back towards the house. Adrienne and Ezra quickly followed. Peter was standing in the kitchen when they walked in.  
  
"Where were guys?" he asked.  
  
"We just stepped outside to get some fresh air," Adrienne answered.  
  
"Well, next time tell me," Peter said. "Ezra, you can go help bring the furniture upstairs."  
  
Ezra walked away leaving Peter and Adrienne alone.  
  
"We need to talk," he told her.  
  
Adrienne nodded, she knew this was coming. She was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. Peter showed her in to a small office and closed the door.  
  
"I talked to Miss Kendall form social services today," Peter told her.  
  
Adrienne said nothing.  
  
"Why is it you never want to talk to me?" he asked.  
  
She thought for a moment, thinking this was a trap. "I don't trust you," she finally said.  
  
"Have I given you a reason not to trust me?" he asked.  
  
"Well, you did make me go on a stupid camping trip that I didn't want to gone on. Where I then proceeded to get lost and then hurt. Yes, I would say that is a reason," Adrienne stated.  
  
"I'm sorry those things happened, but I think there is something else," he said.  
  
"You're lying," she told him.  
  
"About what?" he asked. "I don't think you should be the one talking to me about telling the truth."  
  
"I hate you," she told him.  
  
"Sorry you feel that way, but we still have to address the issue of you trying to kiss Will," Peter said.  
  
"No, I'm done talking to you," she informed him. Her face was stone cold showing no feeling.  
  
"I'll leave alone for tonight, but I will be calling you into see me tomorrow," Peter said.  
  
Adrienne turned and darted from the room, she took asylum in a kitchen chair. She laid her down on the table and cried. She didn't have one reason for crying; there were many reasons. Peter stepped out of his office watched her until she looked up.  
  
"Leave me alone," Adrienne said and continued sobbing.  
  
Peter stood he was shocked because he didn't know what to do. Adrienne didn't want him around, but he couldn't just leave her here like this.  
  
"Peter, you have to see the room," Auggie started to say; he stopped when he saw Adrienne.  
  
"Yes, I'll be right up," he told Auggie.  
  
He left the room still feeling if somehow he was a failure.  
  
Adrienne sat alone; she allowed the quiet to surround her. Silence was the only protective blanket between her and the world. It was hard t believe this was the same Adrienne that had been in the woods moments before.  
  
*Awww poor Adrienne! Why must I continue to torture her? I don't really know. Thanks, to everyone who has reviewed, I appreciate you taking time out of your life to do so. I'm not sure if I'll be updating before I leave for spring break in two weeks, we shall see. As always keep reviewing and have a nice day! 


	12. Home and Lost

Sophie couldn't believe her eyes; the room was perfect. She couldn't believe Peter had done this alone.  
  
"Are you surprised?" Peter asked her, stepping into the room.  
  
"Yes, I can't put my feelings into words," she told him.  
  
"You know that isn't an acceptable response," Peter said acting if she were a student.  
  
"Sometimes you are too much mountain-man," she replied with a smile. "Really though, how long did this take you?"  
  
"Not long at all, I had some help," he answered.  
  
"The kids, I knew you were going to do something, but I never would have suspected this," Sophie said. She let her eyes travel around the room again trying to soak up everything at once. "This is the best gift anyone could have given me."  
  
"Yes well, I am the best husband," Peter said.  
  
"I know how much you enjoy talking about yourself, but our daughters are waiting," Sophie stated.  
  
"And they must not wait another moment," he told her.  
  
The short car ride seemed to take forever, but they soon reached the building where Leah and Ivy were waiting.  
  
Inside Mrs. Johnson had everything ready. There were of course a few extra signatures needed, but after that, the girls were theirs. Sophie was trilled to put on her daughters coats for the first time. Leah let Sophie slip the pale blue coat over her shoulders with nothing but a smile on her face. Ivy wasn't so sure about these new people, and soon after the coat was on, she started to cry. Sophie picked Ivy up to comfort the child, and Ivy's tears stopped after a few moments.  
  
The whole Scarbrow family left together; Leah and Ivy were going home for the first time.  
  
~~~~~~ Later at Horizon ~~~~~~  
  
"I can't do this," Ezra told Adrienne as he pulled away from her embrace.  
  
"Why not? It's just sex," she questioned.  
  
"Because you are all over every guy here, and I don't want to be a jerk, who sleeps with someone and doesn't want anything to do with that person," he explained. "Do whatever you want, but I hope you realize you're the only guy to ever do this to me," Adrienne informed him.  
  
"Sorry," Ezra said before leaving her alone in the woods.  
  
Adrienne pulled her knees to her chest. "Why is this happening?" she asked herself.  
  
"Because," the voice in her head responded, "you are dirty little whore. Well, minus the little because you're pretty fat."  
  
"Argh, stop it," Adrienne screamed grabbing her face. But the voice wouldn't stop; it was joined by others.  
  
"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT," Adrienne shouts rang through the campus.  
  
Will and another counselor, who had been refereeing a soccer game came running towards the sounds. What they saw surprised them. Adrienne was sitting alone on the ground rocking back and forth.  
  
"Are you all right?" Will asked.  
  
"I'm fine," she replied coolly.  
  
"So it wasn't you who was yelling?" he questioned.  
  
"No, it was me, but I practicing for a play I'm writing," Adrienne said.  
  
"So you're a playwright and a dramatist," Will said.  
  
"Yes, now I must get back to my work. I'll try to keep to a dull roar as not to call attention to myself again," Adrienne replied.  
  
"You do that," the other counselor, who until this point had been silent, voiced.  
  
They left leaving Adrienne alone; just as she wanted to be, or at least how she thought she wanted to be.  
  
~~~~~~ Two Days Later ~~~~~~  
  
"Adrienne why aren't you in class?" Peter asked.  
  
She looked up but didn't answer. Adrienne never wanted to talk to another person again. People betray you every chance they get.  
  
"This place is called a school because learning goes on here," Peter stated, but even he knew his words were falling onto deaf ears. "You and I are going to go into my office and have a little chat."  
  
Adrienne just looked up at him and followed him like someone on her way to the guillotine. Once inside she slipped into a chair as far away from Peter's desk as possible.  
  
"You can sit there if you want," Peter said after the fact. He knew he was going to have to try a different approach with Adrienne because she wasn't letting away over her wall.  
  
"Do you have anything you want to say first?" Peter asked.  
  
Adrienne looked at him for a moment with her deep penetrating eyes, and she finally said a simple, "no."  
  
"I'll start by reminding you that we have rules here," he said.  
  
"I thought there was only the no sex, drugs, or swearing," Adrienne questioned.  
  
"Well, I assumed you understood that attending classes is mandatory," Peter replied.  
  
Adrienne rolled her eyes and sank into her chair.  
  
"Your body language is interesting," he stated.  
  
"How's that?" she asked.  
  
"You are trying to give off the appearance that you don't care, but every now and then I see the real Adrienne poking through the shell," Peter told her.  
  
"Adrienne is dead," she answered.  
  
"Then who am I talking to?" Peter asked.  
  
"I don't know," she replied.  
  
Peter didn't say anything Adrienne seemed to be just like all the other kids until she spoke. Nothing she said was ever disrespectful or untrue. Adrienne Price truly believed she cared about nothing and no one cared about her, and it was his job to prove her wrong.  
  
"I care about you, Adrienne," Peter said breaking the silence.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"You heard me, and I care about you so much that I'm going to personally make sure you are going to each and every class," he told her.  
  
"Wonderful," she said coldly.  
  
"Oh and by the way you have kitchens for two weeks for cutting class," Peter told Adrienne.  
  
"Great, when do I start?" she asked sarcastically.  
  
"You can start after dinner," he said. "Oh, wait I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning. I just remembered you have an appointment at the hospital today at 4 o'clock, and there is no way you'll be back in time."  
  
"How am I supposed to do my homework if I'm at the hospital?" she asked.  
  
"It's a long ride, you will have plenty of time to do it on the way there," Peter explained.  
  
~~ Well this chapter is done. It's been awhile, but I'm back from my trip. It was fun, and I hope to go again next year if I can get my lazy self to get a job, so I can pay for it. I do like putting questions at the end of each because it keeps on topic. So will Adrienne ever come around? Will she stop trying to get with every guy on campus? You shall see next time, whenever that may be. Muhaha. 


	13. Flying Flakes

Adrienne was sitting with a notebook opened on her lap, and she wrote,  
  
"As part of my punishment, I am supposed to keep a journal. I have no one to talk to here. I used to tell Rachel and Case everything, but now Case's letters are coming farther and farther apart. It's like there is a whole world going outside, and I'm missing everything. Yesterday was Bryce's birthday; I sent him a card I made. It came back today return to sender. Eden wrote me a letter a few weeks ago to let me know that my name is no longer allowed to be mentioned in the house. No one wants me."  
  
She knew no one wanted her. Hey family didn't want her, and she was just causing problems here. She decided that she would like to go to France again. Her dad had taken her there two summers ago, and it was a beautiful place; it would make a good home.  
  
The other students were put of class now, and some of them started a soccer game. No one wanted to go inside, it was just too nice out. The sun was shining, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  
  
Adrienne ran back to the dorm quickly before anyone else could arrive, she had things to do. She took out her backpack and began to pack; it couldn't be so full someone might suspect something. She first put in the necessary items toothbrush, hairbrush, pants, some socks. The backpack was already starting to fill out. She decided the best option was to wear as many shirts as possibly. She first put on a tank top, this was followed by a long sleeved shirt, two T-shirts went on top of that, and it was topped off with a sweatshirt. She stuffed her sleeping pills, passport, and wallet into her pocket. Adrienne was ready. She looked around the dorm for what she hoped to be the last time.  
  
At four o'clock Peter was waiting for her. He had some business to take care at the bank, and there wasn't enough staff for someone else to drive Adrienne to the hospital.  
  
Adrienne stared at her math book; it might as well been written in Latin. Adrienne didn't care much for school, especially geometry. She neatly printed "I don't care," next to the first problem. She proceeded to fill in the worksheet with such answers. She slammed the book shut.  
  
"Done so soon?" Peter questioned from behind the wheel.  
  
"This is my third time taking this class; I think that I've caught on to it by now," she answered.  
  
Adrienne leaned back in her seat and slept the rest of the way to the hospital. She woke up as Peter was pulling into the parking garage.  
  
"I have to go to the bank, but I'll walk you inside," he told her.  
  
As they made their way to the building Adrienne remembered something. "How am supposed to be on kitchens with my arm," she asked holding up her cast.  
  
"I didn't think about that, I'll come up with some else for you to do; don't worry," Peter told her.  
  
A nurse took Adrienne's weight and blood pressure, before showing her into a private room. Peter left Adrienne in the care of the fine hospital staff, everything was going better than she planned. She knew she had to wait until the doctor came into see her before she split.  
  
She hadn't been waiting long when the doctor came into look at her arm. He pulled the portable x-ray over and took the x-rays to be developed and looked at. She knew it was now or never. Adrienne picked up her backpack and walked out of the room. She bumped right into the nurse who had taken her blood pressure.  
  
"Where is the restroom?" she asked the nurse.  
  
The nurse pointed her in the right direction and Adrienne walked that way until the nurse was out of sight. She headed towards the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor. Once outside Adrienne looked around for someone who looked like a local. She stopped a man carrying a brief case.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, where is the bus station?" Adrienne asked.  
  
The man smiled and gave her directions. Adrienne thanked him and took of running towards the bus station. She checked the bus schedule there was one leaving for Toronto in ten minutes.  
  
"I need a ticket to Toronto," Adrienne told the clerk.  
  
"That will $43.50," the clerk responded.  
  
Adrienne pulled out her wallet and produced the money. She took off towards the bus, she showed her ticket and found a seat in the middle of the bus. The bus took off a few moments later; it was nearly empty. She took two of her sleeping pills and fell asleep. It was going to be a long ride.  
  
In the mean time, Peter had made his way back to the hospital. He entered Adrienne's room to find her not there. He wasn't concerned; she was probably getting x-rays taken. He went to find a nurse to ask her about Adrienne.  
  
The nurse told him, "We have been trying to find her, she said she was going to the restroom, but she never came back."  
  
Peter rubbed his face; he knew he was in for a long night.  
  
~~~~~~ Later that Night ~~~~~~  
  
Once in Toronto, Adrienne took a shuttle to the airport. She walked up to the ticket counter and asked about any flights to Europe. There was one going to Paris in two hours. Adrienne was lucky was again. She purchased the ticket with her credit card, a gift from her father.  
  
She made it through security with no problems. After all, she only had a half-empty backpack of clothes with her. She bought a drink and waited with the other passengers. In less than seven hours, Adrienne would be free at last. No one would ever be able to tell her what to do again. She decided to get a large cash advance in case her credit card was halted. She did so in one of the airport stores. When she returned her row was boarding, and she got on the plane.  
  
It had been years since her mother's death, but at last, Adrienne was free. There was no one to tell her to love, or try to explain that it was wrong to love. Not that she would ever truly love again.  
  
Adrienne had been wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't notice the snow that was coming down heavily.  
  
"Attention passengers, all flights have been canceled. Please exit the plane in an orderly fashion and check with the ticket counter for further details," a flight attendant's voice rang through the plane.  
  
"This isn't happening," Adrienne told herself. She stood up and took her backpack out from the overhead compartment.  
  
Adrienne decided to wait the storm out at the airport, not that there was anywhere else she could go. Morning came a few hours later, and the snow hadn't stop falling. She was stuck; the weather reports only showed more snow.  
  
Her arm had started to feel strange and the feeling soon turned to a sharp pain. Adrienne knew what she had to do; she needed to ask for help. She hated asking for help.  
  
*This chapter is weird, but I needed some action. 


	14. Asking for It

Adrienne walked over to a vacant pay phone. She inserted some coins and dialed one of the only numbers she knew by heart.  
  
"Hello," the voice at the over end answered.  
  
"Case, I'm in so much trouble," she told her friend.  
  
"Where are you? Your dad called me, everyone is freaking out," Case demanded.  
  
"I'm at the airport, in Toronto," Adrienne confessed.  
  
"Toronto, I'm no geography master, but isn't that a few HUNDRED miles away from your school?" Case asked.  
  
"Yeah, Case, come on I need your help," she pleaded.  
  
"What can I do?" he asked in a calmer voice.  
  
"I need you to find the number for Horizon. I can't remember it, and I want to talk to somewhere there before I talk to anyone else," Adrienne explained.  
  
"I'll get it, call me back in ten minutes," Case instructed.  
  
"Okay," she replied.  
  
Adrienne waited by the pay phone until the clock had moved over eight slashes. She inserted some more coins and dialed Case's number again. He picked up after the second ring.  
  
Case read the number off to her, and then he said, "Adrienne, I hope you get better so you can come home, even if it's just for a few days; I miss you."  
  
"I miss you too," she told him.  
  
"Just remember you need to do the right thing. If you always do what is right, there will be nothing left to hide or lie about," Case said.  
  
"Bye," Adrienne said in a near whisper.  
  
"See you around, Adrienne Price," Case answered before hanging up.  
  
Adrienne clutched the telephone number in her fist. She knew Case was right, if she told the truth she would never have anything to hide. Gathering up all her courage, Adrienne slowly tapped the keys on the phone until she heard it ring.  
  
Someone picked up and said, "Hello, Mt. Horizon School." Adrienne swallowed, but she had fear in her chest.  
  
"Hello?" the voice said again.  
  
"I need to speak to Peter," Adrienne blurted out.  
  
"One moment," the person replied.  
  
This seemed to be the longest one moment of her life. She had no idea what she was going to say to Peter besides "I'm sorry."  
  
"This is Peter."  
  
"I sorry," Adrienne said.  
  
"Adrienne?" he questioned.  
  
"Yes," she moaned.  
  
"Where are you?" Peter demanded.  
  
"Toronto," she answered meekly.  
  
"So you didn't get on the plane," he said.  
  
"No, I mean I did, but it doesn't really matter," Adrienne stated.  
  
"No, it doesn't. You're calling because you want help," he told her.  
  
"I know," she replied.  
  
"All you need to do is go to airport security. They'll know who you are," Peter explained.  
  
"Okay," she said. "And Peter thanks for not giving up on me like everyone else has."  
  
"Not a problem," he said.  
  
Adrienne hung up and walked to the security counter. They took her to an airport and drove her to the hospital. The doctor at the hospital was just as surprised as Adrienne when there was nothing further wrong with her arm. He gave her a mild painkiller, and she went to sleep waiting for Peter to arrive. He was having a hard time because of the snowstorm.  
  
When Peter finally arrived, Adrienne was busy picking at her delicious hospital dinner.  
  
"Food is that good huh?" Peter asked. "No, its gross. I never knew you could make Jell-O taste bad," she commented.  
  
"There is first time for everything," Peter told her. "You called me because you know you need help. I'm here to help you."  
  
"Am I in trouble?" she asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, but we can talk about that part later. Why did you run?" Peter asked.  
  
"I don't know," Adrienne said softly.  
  
"Yes, you do," he said pulling out her journal.  
  
"Hey, you weren't supposed to read that," she stated.  
  
"It gives me somewhere to start. I don't think you should call or write home anymore," he told her.  
  
"Are you telling me or just making a suggestion?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Telling you," Peter said.  
  
"It's my stepmother isn't it?" she questioned.  
  
"Yes," he replied.  
  
"Doesn't surprise me. I bet she told you that if I did I was going to be sent to some mental hospital in Russia. Bitch," she mumbled the last part.  
  
"I would watch your language; it's the last thing you need to be worrying about right now," he commented.  
  
"I really don't care about any stupid rules at the moment," she responded. Adrienne couldn't take it anymore with one swift move she sent her dinner tray sailing across the room. It hit the wall and clanked on the floor a few times before stopping.  
  
"You need to calm down," Peter told her gently.  
  
"No, I need to go and tell everyone what I really think about them," she yelled.  
  
"How about you just tell me what you think about everyone?" he offered.  
  
"Fine, if I do it will you shut up?" she asked.  
  
"No promises, but you might get out of this hospital quicker," Peter said.  
  
"Good enough," Adrienne answered. "Where should I start? How about with the people I can't stand the most. Vicky, that's my stepmom, she doesn't even know me. She thinks I'm some devil-child because my mom ran out on me when I was five. Rachel, my old best friend, told Vicky about me having an affair with a teacher, that was how I ended up here, even though Vicky told you otherwise. She just didn't want her "name" to have a dent in it. It's not even her name."  
  
"Let me ask you a question. Why do you act the way you do?" he asked.  
  
"Act how?" Adrienne asked for clarification.  
  
"Why did you have an affair with a teacher? Why did you kiss Will?" he asked.  
  
"Because I can. I'm in control," Adrienne explained.  
  
"I see you and feel out of control normally?" he pursued.  
  
"Sometimes, I don't feel like myself, and it scares me. My mom had all sorts of psychological problems, and I'm afraid I'll become her," she said.  
  
"You aren't her. You don't have to be anyone," Peter told her.  
  
"I know, tell the voices in my head that," she said wiping tears from her face. There were a few moments of silence. Adrienne finally said, "I was joking about the voices."  
  
Peter smiled, "How can you be telling jokes one minutes than throwing things in rage the next?"  
  
"I forget about everything sometimes, and then I feel fine again. But when I remember, it hurts even more, so then I do crazier things," she explained.  
  
"You know a lot about yourself for someone so quiet," he stated.  
  
"I think, my mind is a much better listener than those rejects over at your school," Adrienne told him.  
  
"Give them a chance, you might be surprised," Peter said. 


	15. Starting New

*Screw you State of Michigan, I hate your test. Screw you high school for making me take it all week instead of just one day. Screw you freshmen, sophomores, and seniors for getting to sleep in. All right, now that I'm done ranting I feel better, and maybe, just maybe, I'll write a halfway decent chapter! One can dream.  
  
~~~~~~ The Story ~~~~~~  
  
Adrienne sat in Peter's office waiting to find out what her punishment was going to be. She had arrived back at Horizon in the dead of night with little fanfare. It was now a few minutes after noon, and Peter had just stepped out to deal with another student. Adrienne tried to soak up her last moments of freedom.  
  
"Sorry about that," Peter apologized stepping back into the office.  
  
"Not a problem," Adrienne replied honestly.  
  
"Yes, where were we now? Oh, I believe I was lecturing on why we have rules," Peter said. "The rules are for your safety; it was safe to run at the hospital. What if something had happen to you? I'm responsible for every student at this school. What if all the students tried to run, what would we do then?"  
  
"Put up a fence," she offered.  
  
Peter ignored her and continued, "I have been thinking long and hard to come up with a punishment that would actually punish you. Since you have decided not to try to get know your fellow cliffhangers, I'm going to make you."  
  
"You can't make me be friends with people," Adrienne told him.  
  
"I can't? I was under the impression that I was the headmaster at this school," Peter said.  
  
Adrienne sent him the glare of death with her eyes.  
  
"You are going to be spending one week with each of the cliffhangers, you'll eat with them, sit by them in class, and do everything else with them. At the end of each week, I want a report on what you learned about the person you spent the week with. If I don't think you're trying, you'll start all over again until each week is done correctly. Any questions?"  
  
"Do I have to shower with the other person?" she asked.  
  
"No," Peter answered calmly. "Who should you start with? I'll go easy on you and pick someone I've seen you speaking to before."  
  
"Not Auggie, not Auggie, not Auggie," Adrienne repeated in her head.  
  
"Auggie, I'll let everyone know about it at group tonight," Peter explained. "You can go back to class now."  
  
Adrienne stood up and walked out of the room, and she took her sweet time making her way back to class. Geometry wasn't her cup of tea; not that geometry is anyone's cup tea.  
  
She sat through the rest of the class and even managed to finish a few proofs. The rest of the day went to quickly and soon it was time for group.  
  
In the middle of group, Adrienne decided that Peter must be a masochist because he didn't say anything about Adrienne's punishment until the very end. When he did Adrienne zoned out and stared blankly at the floor; she didn't want to see or hear the others reactions.  
  
"Hey, Buddy," Auggie said to her after words. "How did you get off so easy?"  
  
"I wouldn't say this is going to be easy," Adrienne told him.  
  
"Yeah, well, at least it isn't shuns," he stated.  
  
"I would have rather been on shuns for the rest off my life," she said coolly as she walked away leaving Auggie behind her.  
  
Adrienne awoke the next morning with a heavy cloud hanging over her head, and not the one looming off to the south of Horizon. She knew what today was; it was the start of her many weeks of budding around with people.  
  
Later that day, Adrienne and Auggie are sitting together working on homework.  
  
"Are you done yet?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Why? Do you have someplace to go?" he asked.  
  
"No, but I'm bored," she replied. "How long is it going to take you to read that book? You've been at it for a half hour."  
  
"Sorry, I'm dyslexic, and sometimes it takes me little while to work all the words out," Auggie explained.  
  
"What does it look like when you see the words?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"It depends, everything looks crazy, but other times just a few words a switched around," he told her.  
  
"Does anything look strange now?" she asked.  
  
"No, I have been on this page for awhile," Auggie said.  
  
"Turn the page and tell me if anything looks weird," she instructed him.  
  
"Are you making fun of me? he questioned.  
  
"No, I'm just curious what you see? Adrienne elaborated.  
  
"Here," he said grabbing a piece of paper and copied down what appeared to be a mess of letters.  
  
"Wow," she responded, "that is bizarre."  
  
"Yeah, whatever, it's almost time for dinner," Auggie stated.  
  
"You aren't still mad at me for not wanting to go out with you are you?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Kind of, Juliette won't even talk to me anymore; everything I had with her is gone," Auggie explained.  
  
"I'm sorry," she told him.  
  
"Whatever, let's go eat," he said.  
  
After dinner, they joined the other cliffhangers in the kitchen; it was their turn on dishes. Adrienne and Auggie had to work side by side, and Juliette wasn't taking this too well. Several times she "bumped" into Adrienne. This last time, Adrienne snapped.  
  
"I don't want your boyfriend," Adrienne told her.  
  
"You wouldn't would you, because he's not old enough for you," Shelby said stepping in.  
  
"This has nothing to do with you," Adrienne told her.  
  
"I don't care. You have been putting on a whole little sweet and innocent act since you got here, and I'm sick of it," Shelby said.  
  
"Screw you," Adrienne yelled and stormed out of the kitchen.  
  
"You shouldn't have said that, Shelby," Juliette said.  
  
"I just had your back," Shelby explained.  
  
"Is it that, or are you just afraid she'll make a move on your man?" Juliette questioned.  
  
Shelby didn't answer, the other cliffhangers stood around in shock. None of them knew what to do.  
  
"I'd better go find her," Auggie finally said. "Or Peter will go postal when he finds out we aren't together."  
  
Auggie found Adrienne sitting in a bench.  
  
"I can't do this anymore," she told him.  
  
"Do what? He asked.  
  
"I can't try to be nice to these people. I try, and they treat me like crap," Adrienne said.  
  
"Were you really trying?" Auggie questioned.  
  
"Peter, is that you?" Adrienne asked sarcastically.  
  
"Really though, don't worry about them; they'll come around. You know why the girls treat you like that," he said.  
  
"Because they're jealous," she told him.  
  
"That and they don't understand you," Auggie said. "Come on, we'd better go back before we're missed."  
  
They walked back to the kitchen together, side by side.  
  
~~~~~~ That Night ~~~~~~  
  
Peter walked up the stairs to the second floor of his house. As he passed his daughters' room, he couldn't help but go in. Leah was curled in a ball; her chest moved in and out slowly. Peter watched her for a few moments, and he moved across the room to Ivy's crib. She also slept quietly, deep in her REM cycle. He touched her forehead, and a smile formed with her lips.  
  
Peter walked across the hall to his own room.  
  
"Hey, you," Sophie said as Peter slipped into bed. "How was your day?" she asked.  
  
"Interesting," he answered.  
  
"That's good," she stated with a yawn. "Leah tried to walk today."  
  
"She took her first step?" Peter questioned.  
  
"No, she tried to step, but she fell over.  
  
"What about Ivy?" he asked.  
  
"She's fine, don't worry," Sophie said.  
  
Peter was concerned something was wrong with Ivy. She seemed to be developing much slower than her sister was.  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked.  
  
Sophie was already asleep. Peter closed his eyes and drifted off a few moments later.  
  
~~~~~~ At Horizon ~~~~~~  
  
Adrienne sat on her bed trying to sort out today's events. She reached for a notebook and started to write about her day with Auggie. Somehow, she had to put everything together to write a paper. Adrienne recalled what Auggie had written for her earlier. If she wrote the whole paper like that she would risk having to repeat this week again, and that wouldn't do. 


	16. Who Needs Friends?

It was early morning, and Adrienne was still struggling with the words to write. She only had matter of hours before Peter would be accosting her to see the paper. She had to finish there was no way she was going to repeat this week.  
  
*Flashback to Last Night*  
  
"I don't believe she'd do that," Juliette told Daisy.  
  
"It's all in the cards, take them as face value," Daisy stated.  
  
Adrienne who had been listening from the bathroom finally stepped out revealing herself to the group.  
  
"Speaking of the devil," Shelby said.  
  
Adrienne ignored her, and continued to get ready for bed.  
  
"What are you too good to talk to us now?" Shelby questioned.  
  
Again, Adrienne said nothing.  
  
"Quit acting all shy, we all know what you're really like," Shelby said.  
  
"Oh, and how is that?" Adrienne finally snapped back.  
  
"You just want get some from teachers," Shelby replied.  
  
"Shelby, stop," Daisy finally intervened.  
  
It was too late; Adrienne wasn't about to lose her battle.  
  
"At least I have relationships with whoever I have sex with," Adrienne yelled.  
  
"Yeah, a student and teacher relationship," Natalie added.  
  
Juliette was sitting quietly; she was still angry about losing Auggie. But not angry enough to torment Adrienne anymore.  
  
"Why don't you two have a relationship with each other?" Adrienne said storming out of the dorm.  
  
"Lights out is in ten minutes," Daisy announced looking towards the door.  
  
"Don't bother, let her get in trouble," Shelby responded.  
  
Adrienne, who was sitting just outside the door, heard all of this. She didn't know what to do. A cold wind was freezing her wet hair into hard hunks of ice. She stood up and moved herself several feet before sitting down with her knees pulled up close to her chest. Adrienne didn't know if she had ever been so cold.  
  
Thinking she was alone she started to sing, "Nobody likes me everybody hates me; I might as well eat worms." The song gave way to sobs.  
  
"Adrienne," Sophie called out.  
  
"What," Adrienne mumbled.  
  
"It's past lights out," Sophie informed her. As Sophie stepped closer she saw what a mess Adrienne appeared to be. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Everything, I hate it here, I want to leave," Adrienne blurted out.  
  
"I thought you understood that going home isn't an option," Sophie said gently.  
  
"I didn't say I wanted to go home. I said I wanted to leave," Adrienne told her.  
  
"Why don't you go back to the dorm and go to sleep," Sophie suggested.  
  
"I'm not going back there," Adrienne stated. "I thought you stop working here?"  
  
"I did, but Peter had an emergency and had to leave. It's very cold out. You can come with me back the office, and we can wait for Peter to get back," Sophie said.  
  
Adrienne agreed, but only because she knew Sophie would make her go back to the dorm if she refused.  
  
They pair sat in silence for a few moments.  
  
"Are those your daughters?" Adrienne asked. She was revering to the two heads of hair poking out from underneath a blanket on the couch.  
  
"Yes," Sophie answered.  
  
"Have they started to walk yet?" Adrienne asked.  
  
"Leah has, but not Ivy. Peter is afraid something is wrong with her," Sophie said.  
  
"You shouldn't be worried yet; my sister Gracie didn't walked until she was fifteen months," Adrienne replied.  
  
"Thank you, I'll tell Peter that. Do you want to tell what is going on before Peter gets here?" Sophie asked.  
  
"I am never staying in that dorm with those people again," Adrienne said.  
  
"Why?" Sophie questioned.  
  
"They treat me like crap. I don't need anyone else making feel any worse about myself than I already do," Adrienne explained.  
  
Peter entered the office and looked at Sophie then at Adrienne.  
  
"What is going on?" he asked.  
  
"Adrienne, won't go back to the dorm," Sophie replied.  
  
"Why not?" he directed the question at Adrienne.  
  
"Because I don't want to," she told him.  
  
"I'm going to take the girls home now," Sophie said making her exit.  
  
"I don't want to be having another conversation with you about following rules, but I am," he said.  
  
"So don't I didn't ask you to," Adrienne responded.  
  
"I'm going to give you a minute to drop the attitude," Peter told her.  
  
A minute later he continued, "Are you ready?"  
  
Adrienne nodded.  
  
"Why won't you go back to the dorm?" he asked in calmer voice.  
  
"They hate me," Adrienne said.  
  
"The other girls?" he questioned.  
  
"Yes," she answered.  
  
"Why aren't you getting along with them?" Peter asked.  
  
"I don't know. I didn't do anything tonight, and they were all talking about me," she explained.  
  
"All of them?" he questioned.  
  
"No, just Shelby and Natalie. Juliette was mad at me the other day, but she wasn't doing anything tonight," she told him.  
  
"I'll deal with this tomorrow. You can sleep on the couch tonight but only tonight," Peter said.  
  
"Thank you," she replied.  
  
*End of Flash Back*  
  
Adrienne glanced over to Peter; he was asleep in his chair. She picked up the pen a started to write. Suddenly, she knew just what to say. The words followed out of her pen and on to the paper. She wouldn't have to repeat the first week over again after all.  
  
~*~*~ Note from Banana ~*~*~  
  
This wasn't a very long chapter, but I had to write something. I'm going to be very busy until the end of school, so I don't know if there will be any new chapters until the beginning of June. Keep reviewing and I'll try to write more ASAP. 


	17. Time is Charm

"I need to address a problem that has been going on these past few weeks," Peter announced at the end of group.  
  
"By problem, I assume you're referring to Adrienne," Shelby stated.  
  
"Yes, what has been going on?" Peter asked the cliffhangers.  
  
The guys exchanged blank looks, except for Auggie who glared across towards Shelby.  
  
"Stop looking at me," Shelby told him.  
  
"You're the one who started all this," Auggie said.  
  
"It wasn't just me," she replied.  
  
"No, sorry, I forgot about Mini-Shelby," Auggie remarked.  
  
"You're just jealous," Natalie retorted.  
  
"Why do you two hate her so much?" Auggie asked.  
  
"Well, she is cocky, stuck up, total B." Shelby started to say.  
  
"I'm right here, Shelby," Adrienne said standing up.  
  
Peter watched waiting for things to get out off hand before he intervened.  
  
"All right, Miss Perfect, you're act like you're shy, but you just want to cover up who you really are," Shelby explained.  
  
"Okay that is enough, Natalie go to my office we're going to talk. Adrienne, I think, I've found your next friend. You will be able to start the assignment on your buddy hike with Shelby," Peter stated.  
  
"This is crap," Shelby stated.  
  
"I'll let you know when the hike starts; I have to find a counselor to go with you," Peter told them. "Group is dismissed."  
  
Natalie trudged off to Peter's office, while the rest of the group lingered behind.  
  
"Shel, I know you don't like her, but you don't have to be so mean," Scott told his girlfriend.  
  
"Does it really matter? I'm going to be away from you for a few days," Shelby replied.  
  
"I miss you," Scott told her.  
  
"I'll miss you too," Shelby said.  
  
"They're starting already," Daisy complained.  
  
"Let's leave the love birds alone," Ezra suggested.  
  
Juliette rolled her eyes, Adrienne stomped off, and the rest left the room quietly.  
  
*** That Night ***  
  
"You're up late," Peter said as he entered the house.  
  
"I couldn't sleep," Sophie answered. "I miss work."  
  
"I thought we decided you were going to stay home," he stated.  
  
"Yes, but I want something different," she replied.  
  
"You want to drop our children off at some daycare center in the morning and pick them up at an ungodly hour everyday?" He questioned.  
  
"I don't appreciate your tone, and I wasn't saying that at all. I was just telling what has been bothering me these past few days," Sophie explained.  
  
"I'm sorry," Peter told her.  
  
"Oh, you think it's that easy to make amends?" she questioned.  
  
"I do," he responded.  
  
"Come here," Sophie said embracing her husband.  
  
Peter awoke few hours later, and he couldn't get back to sleep. He walked over to the girls' room. He was horrified to see Ivy standing on the crib rail. He hurried over a picked her up. Peter brought her over to the rocking chair and sat down.  
  
"Ivy, you need to stay in bed," he told his smiling daughter. "You could fall and break your sweet little head open."  
  
Ivy rested her head against him, and he rocked her until she fell asleep. Peter was upset, but he couldn't stop smiling; There was nothing wrong with Ivy.  
  
***The Next Day***  
  
"Who is going with us?" Shelby asked Peter.  
  
"Jeff," Peter answered.  
  
"All right, tie us up so we can get this over with," Shelby said.  
  
Peter fastened the rope, and Shelby and Adrienne walked towards the trail.  
  
Several hours later, they found a spot to spend the night. They gathered twigs to start a fire, and Shelby searched for edible wildlife.  
  
"Want some?" Shelby said offering Adrienne some green looking goo.  
  
"No, thanks I'd rather digest the food in my stomach than regurgitate it back up," Adrienne responded.  
  
"So, you have to write some paper about me or something?" Shelby questioned.  
  
"Yeah," Adrienne replied.  
  
"Well, there isn't much to say besides what you already know from group," Shelby stated.  
  
"I figured as much, but I don't think that will fly with Peter," Adrienne said.  
  
"True, you could make up something about how talking to me has been a life changing experience," Shelby offered.  
  
"I could, but it has to be believable," Adrienne remarked.  
  
No one said a thing until Shelby asked, "Did you really love the teacher?"  
  
"Yeah," Adrienne answered. "He was everything I had ever dreamed of, I even named our future children."  
  
"Wow," Shelby said. "Where is he now?"  
  
"I heard he was getting a real estate license because they won't let him teach anymore," Adrienne replied.  
  
"Didn't have to go to jail or anything for statutory rape?" Shelby asked.  
  
"Nope, my parents wanted to keep the whole thing hush-hush, so they made sure no one ever asked me about having sex with him. The police were never even involved," Adrienne answered.  
  
"That is crazy," Shelby said.  
  
"My family is crazy," Adrienne responded after yawing. "I'm very tired, I think, we should go to sleep."  
  
"Adrienne?" Shelby said.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Sorry, I was such a ." Shelby started to say.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Adrienne cut her off.  
  
*** In the Morning ***  
  
"How did things go?" Peter asked Jeff.  
  
"Ruff at first, but I think they are beginning to understand one another," Jeff commented.  
  
"I'm glad," Peter answered with a nod.  
  
The phone rang.  
  
"Mt. Horizon, this is." Peter began.  
  
"Peter, it's Sophie, Ivy fell down the stairs," Sophie told him.  
  
"Is she all right?" Peter asked with concern.  
  
"There are going to be taking x-rays in a few minutes," Sophie explained.  
  
"Someone has to take Adrienne to get her cast off today, so I might make it a double trip," he said.  
  
"I'll see you in a little while," she replied.  
  
" I'll be there as soon as I can," Peter said ending the conversation.  
  
*~*~* Note from Banana Belle *~*~*  
  
Sorry it has been so long between chapters, but I've been busy. Thanks for the reviews, and keep reviewing. Reviews may not make me write faster, but they motivate me. TTFN -Kelly  
  
. 


	18. Breaking Points

Adrienne sat patiently in the waiting for a nurse to take her an exam room. She looked over to see the same nurse watching her. "Ugh, that is creepy. She could at least be a little less obvious," Adrienne said to herself. "It isn't as if I'm going to escape the same way twice."  
  
Finally, another nurse escorted her to a room. "The doctor will be with you shortly," the nurse said.  
  
"Yeah, and in the mean time, you'll be waiting right outside my door," Adrienne said aloud after the nurse left.  
  
She lay back on the exam table, and something in her pocket jabbed into her side. She quickly sat up remembering what was causing her mild discomfort. A letter had arrived for her right before she had left school. Not just any letter, a letter from Case she hadn't heard from him since the night she had decided to spilt.  
  
Dear Adrienne,  
It has been such a long time since we've last talked. I really miss you, and no one else will ever be able to take your place in my heart. I will always remember how your smile lit my cloudy days. I will remember how your hair felt of China's finest silks. My darling, we can not be, but I don't want you to ever forget me.  
Kurt Della  
  
Adrienne- Mr. Della sent this to me, before it happened. I thought you should know. -Case  
  
A bunch of newspaper clippings fell onto the floor. Adrienne gathered them up, and started to flip through them. The headline of the first article caught her eye "Real-estate Agent Found Dead" Adrienne tucked everything back into the envelope; she didn't want to read any more.  
  
The doctor came in, but Adrienne was too far outside herself to care.  
  
"I believe we'll be able to take that cast off today," the doctor said.  
  
Adrienne just stared; Kurt was dead, and so was she.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
"If you'll just sign this last form, you folks are all set to go," a nurse told the Scarbrow family.  
  
Sophie signed the paper and bent down to pick up Ivy. It took a little longer than usual because Ivy's leg was now covered with a plaster cast.  
  
"You didn't drive did you?" Peter asked his wife.  
  
"No, I called an ambulance," Sophie said.  
  
"I don't have the girls' car seats with me," Peter stated. The look on his face made Sophie laugh.  
  
"It's all right. I'll sit in back with the girls', and Adrienne can ride in the front," Sophie explained.  
  
They reached Adrienne's room, just as the doctor was removing her cast.  
  
"How does it feel to be free?" Peter asked.  
  
"What?" Adrienne confusedly questioned.  
  
"Never mind, it's late, let's get going," he said.  
  
Not long after the car was on the road both Leah and Ivy fell asleep. Peter looked at them with the rear-view mirror. Sophie's head was also slumped over.  
  
Adrienne sat next to Peter trying to decide if her arm in the cast had shrunk. She put them next to each other, brought them apart slowly, and repeated this process several times.  
  
"What are you doing?" Peter questioned after he glanced at her.  
  
"I think my arm is smaller," Adrienne said.  
  
"I might be," Peter replied.  
  
Adrienne sat back in the seat and watched the scenery pass by. She noticed a large tree; it reminded her of Kurt. She had spent most of last summer sitting in a large tree looking into his apartment window. "The funeral," Adrienne said.  
  
"What?" Peter questioned.  
  
"Nothing," Adrienne mumbled as she pulled out the letter and sorted through the clippings. She found the obituary and skimmed to the bottom looking for the date of the funeral. It was tomorrow at three o'clock. She knew if she didn't go, it would seem as if he was still alive waiting for her after play practice so they could drive around town.  
  
Adrienne looked over at Peter, trying to decide how she should go about asking to attend the funeral.  
  
Finally, she decided to just say what needed to be said, "One of my old teachers died. I want to go to his funeral."  
  
"Your father told me to let you go if you asked," Peter said.  
  
"You knew?" she questioned.  
  
"Well, yes, but I wanted your father to be the one to tell you," he explained.  
  
"He didn't tell me. My friend, Case, sent me a letter that is how I found out," Adrienne yelled. "I can't believe you knew!"  
  
The loud conversation in the front seat woke Sophie and Leah, who was now crying.  
  
"We can talk about this when we get back," Peter told her.  
  
Adrienne didn't give him the satisfaction of a response. She turned her head away and scooted as close to the window as possible. She thought, "This can't be real. There has to be some way I can prove this isn't real."  
  
A few moments later Peter pulled into his driveway. Peter helped Sophie bring their daughters into the house, while Adrienne scowled alone in the car.  
  
"Please tell me our daughters will never be teenagers," Peter said to Sophie as they were putting the twins to bed.  
  
"Sorry, they will be teenagers someday, but after that they'll be happy well-adjusted adults," she said adding the last part to comfort him.  
  
Sophie left the room, and Peter began to follow her. He looked back to see Leah drooling all over herself, and Ivy poking at her cast.  
  
"Ivy, my dear, that isn't a toy," Peter said.  
  
Ivy had begun to smack the cast with her hand. He caught her hand in mid- smack.  
  
"You will never be teenagers," he said to them. "You'll always be my sweet little angels."  
  
They both stared up at him, and Leah said "Daddy."  
  
"Peter," Sophie called from downstairs.  
  
He snapped out of his trance and turned out the light.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~*~*~ Note from Banana Belle ~*~*~  
  
Another chapter completed. I think the next chapter will be about Adrienne going home for the first time since arriving at Horizon, but I don't know. I have been reading the requests for more S/S, but for some reason, it isn't working for me in this story. I will, however, still keep it in mind. I always have time to read reviews, so please keep them coming. 


	19. Stones

Adrienne looked out the window as the plane landed. It had been along time since she had been home. Case was waiting for her outside of the baggage claim.  
  
"Hey," she greeted him with a smile.  
  
Case gave her a hug, and they walked to the parking garage where Case had parked his car.  
  
Once inside the car, Case said, "Rachel is coming with us to the funeral."  
  
"You are such a jerk," Adrienne told him.  
  
"Oh, so because you don't like her, she can't attend the funeral?" Case questioned.  
  
"Yes," Adrienne answered.  
  
"How is school?" Case asked changing the subject.  
  
"Okay, I don't want to go back," she told him.  
  
"You have to," he said.  
  
"I don't have to do anything," Adrienne informed him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile at Horizon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"The sun is shining and the grass has never been greener," Scott announced to his fellow classmates.  
  
"Yeah, you've been smoking something that is greener," Shelby teased.  
  
"Thank you for your support, Shelby," he said.  
  
"Anytime," she replied.  
  
"Really, I think there is going to be a heat wave in February," Scott explained.  
  
"Scott, didn't you get a D on your last science test?" Daisy asked.  
  
"Yeah, so," he answered.  
  
"The test was over metrology and weather patterns," Juliette reminded him.  
  
"Oh, anyway, everyone come on outside," Scott told them.  
  
"We have to study," someone complained.  
  
"No, you don't, let's go," Scott said pulling Shelby off the floor.  
  
The air was still cool but much warmer than the days past. Peter watched the group from a window wondering what they were up to. Everything seemed too perfect.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back in Alabama ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Adrienne, when are you going to get over this?" Case asked.  
  
The traffic was heavy, and Adrienne knew Case should have been paying attention his driving instead of her.  
  
"I understand the age thing, but that wasn't the problem for the people here. They were horrified that Jacob Price's daughter could love a black man," she replied coolly.  
  
"That isn't true," Case argued.  
  
"It is and you know it," Adrienne explained.  
  
"Adrienne," Case turned at looked at her, "I want you to get over Mr. Della, because I want us to be more than friends."  
  
The words hit Adrienne by surprise maybe if he hadn't said this she would have been able to warn him sooner. By the time, she noticed the truck and screamed, it was too late.  
  
Rachel was waiting on her front porch when the call came. Her mother opened the front door, and Rachel knew something was wrong.  
  
"Rachel, honey, Case isn't coming to pick you up," her mother said barely able to get the words out.  
  
"Why?" Rachel asked.  
  
"There was an accident and." her mother's voice trailed off.  
  
"What?" Rachel pleaded. "Case isn't dead is he? He can't be!"  
  
"I sorry, he was gone before he even reached the hospital," her mother said.  
  
"What about Adrienne?" Rachel asked tears were streaming down her face.  
  
"She is alive, but it's bad," her mother explained.  
  
"I need to talk to Adrienne," Rachel told her.  
  
"I don't think it is a good time."  
  
Rachel didn't let her finish, "Drive me to the hospital or I'm driving myself."  
  
Rachel was alone in the room with Adrienne, or with the lump of charred flesh that used to be her best friend.  
  
"Adrienne, I'm sorry if I hurt you. Please, get better I need to you," Rachel said.  
  
The door creaked open, and Mr. Price and a doctor entered. Mr. Price didn't acknowledge Rachel, and she didn't care.  
  
"Is she going to die?" Rachel asked.  
  
Mr. Price couldn't look at Rachel, the doctor said, "Her burns are to sever. We can only make her comfortable for her last few hours."  
  
Rachel only remembered feeling very dizzy. She woke up on the floor; the doctor was trying to examine her head.  
  
"I'm fine," Rachel told him pulling away, "Fix her." She pointed to Adrienne.  
  
Rachel sat on the floor watching various family members come and go. Bryce came and sat with her for a few moments until Eden found him and pulled him out of the room. Hours later, a group of people Rachel had never seen before entered the room.  
  
One of the boys noticed her, and he asked, "Are you Rachel?"  
  
She nodded, and he handed her an envelope. She stared blankly at him.  
  
"Adrienne wrote that a week ago, I thought you might want to read it," he told her.  
  
"Thanks, you're all from that school right?" she asked finding her voice.  
  
"Yeah, I'm Auggie," he told her.  
  
Each one them left one by one, and soon they were all gone except the man who had been with them.  
  
"You're that Peter guy," Rachel said breaking the silence.  
  
"Yes," he answered.  
  
"Case told me about you. Thank you," Rachel told her.  
  
"For what?" he asked.  
  
"For helping when no one else would," Rachel explained.  
  
"Adrienne helped me in her own way," Peter said.  
  
"She helped everyone, and she didn't even want to." Rachel couldn't stop the tears.  
  
At three o'clock in the morning, Adrienne left the world of flesh. In less than two months she had loved, lost and nearly found herself. As much as she wasn't liked at Horizon, the school seemed empty without her.  
  
Peter was walking towards woods, when he noticed Auggie and Scott carrying rocks and setting them on the ground. Shelby and Natalie appeared a few moments later also carrying rocks.  
  
"What are you doing?" Peter asked.  
  
"Building a wall," Shelby explained.  
  
"Not a tall one, not even a long, just one that you can cross over whenever you want," Scott elaborated.  
  
Years later the small wall remained. Students smiled, cried, and thought things out next to that pile. A tradition began that you had to place a rock down every time you came to the wall. As the years past, no one knew how or why the wall had started, but everyone knew it was called Adrienne's Wall.  
  
~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~  
  
I surprised myself by ending the story like this, because I wasn't planning to end it at all. I'm not sure if or when I'll begin another Higherground story (I was thinking about having Rachel come to Horizon). I have a lot of work to do with my other stories (online and one I'm writing for a friend). It has been my pleasure sharing this story with you, and I'm looking forward to reading your reviews.  
  
Kelly aka Banana Belle 


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